Parallels
by The-Lady-Isis
Summary: Sometimes it takes the heart of a woman to understand the heart of a man. Angry bats and confused Amazons galore. I don't own.
1. Prologue

**A/N: Welcome to the new JL fic! This is a sort-of take-from Kipling Nori's fic _Through the Looking Glass_, which is very good, I highly recommend it. And before you ask, I have asked permission, and it has been graciously granted, so thank you Kipling Nori, and the dedication of this story is yours. Hope I don't disappoint you! **

**Rest of you - I hope you enjoy! This is the prologue, and very short, I know. Next one will be longer.  
**

**Prologue**

The two superheroes ducked as another chunk of metal fell from the ceiling of the Watchtower, the structure busy shaking itself apart around them. The satellite was losing orbit, and fast. Of course, that was part of the plan. The two remaining people on board were arguing with each other, both with equal determination. "For the last time, get through the damn portal," the dark-clocked figure hissed. "You can't-"

"I let you try and kill yourself with this thing once, I'm not doing it again! Please, Bat-" The Amazon cut off as another part of the satellite came crashing down.

The main financier of said satellite wondered how this could possibly be happening again. _What's a few more billions down the drain, after all?_ came the sour thought. "Fine," Gotham's protector finally conceded, "but if we get back and this hasn't worked, I'm blaming you." Moving quickly, black-gloved fingers danced across the keyboard, ejecting a disc from the computer bank. It was slid smoothly into an empty pouch in the utility belt, then the billionaire turned back to the royal. "Well? Portal, now!"

The only response the Caped Crusader got was to have one hand seized and then to be physically pulled to the swirling schism in the centre of the room. What could have been hours, but was most likely milliseconds later, the two were ejected onto a cold metal floor. The Watchtower, another world away. Black boots filled the Dark Knight's vision, followed by a rough, low growl.

"Who are you?"

Two pairs of white lenses met and widened before the answer came. This was unexpected. Batwoman frowned.

"I'm you."

---

**A/N: Review please!**


	2. Just The One

**A/N: I've spelt 'Morgaine Le Fay' wrong here, that's deliberate. Also I know the Diana-dating-King-Faraday thing has been waaaaaaaaaay overdone by now, but if I wasn't head over heels in love with BMWWness then I kinda think it wouldn't be such a bad thing. And he's good for making Bruce jealous ;)**

**Chapter One – Just The One**

"It's all gone," she said flatly, voice devoid of emotion. Very…Batman like, in fact. But tired. "The whole League."

"Apart from you two," Batman interrupted, arms crossed and looking very suspicious of the woman in a suit identical to his own – though rather than a cowl that covered her head, she wore only a mask, letting her dark hair flow over her shoulders, almost to the length Diana's was. Batwoman did not look angry; on the contrary, she understood perfectly. After the Justice Lords, it was no wonder he was wary of them. She certainly would be.

"Have your Martian read Damien's mind," she said. "He can confirm we're what we say we are."

Batman didn't ask why J'onn couldn't read her mind, and only continued his assessment of the pair. They definitely looked like they'd been through hell. The man with 'Batwoman' was tall, taller than him by at least an inch, as well-built as Clark. His features were the same as Diana's, almost. A similar nose, eyes of the same colour, a similarly shaped mouth…the same, but different. Masculine beauty, but still very much beauty. His uniform, obviously, was not the same as Diana's, but was of similar colours – blue pants with the stars descending down his legs, and a sleeveless red shirt – the golden armour not as breastplate, but a belt around his hips. The silver bracers circled powerfully muscled forearms. Bruce's eyes did not miss the wedding band on his left hand either.

For the moment their two guests were in the Infirmary, having blood taken and tested to prove that they were, at least, human. The portal had opened inside the conference room; only the founding members knew about them so far. J'onn put his hands either side of 'Wonder Warrior's' head with an apologetic look. "I am sorry for this," he said solemnly.

"Don't worry about it," the apparent Amazon said. "I understand."

Batman glanced at Diana, curious to see how she was taking this. He couldn't suppress a smirk at the look on her face. Her expression was part horror, part intense curiosity. No doubt she was brimming with questions, but he knew she wouldn't ask any until it was determined that these people could be trusted. Finally, J'onn drew back with a nod, his face more sombre than it had been before. "They are telling the truth."

"Great," Batwoman announced, standing up. "Then we need to return to our world as soon as possible, with your help." She stalked toward the doors of the Infirmary, only to be stopped by Batman. She glared. "What?"

"I'm not convinced," he said. "Your name."

She stared him evenly for a moment, white lenses narrowed to slits. Eventually she slid the mask off, revealing dark blue eyes the colour of storm clouds. Just as the resemblance between Wonder Woman and Wonder Warrior couldn't be doubted, neither could it be between Bruce and this woman. "Bella Wayne," she said. "And yours?"

"Bruce."

She raised an eyebrow and nodded. "Now are you convinced?"

"No."

She crossed her arms. "Then ask me something only you know."

Bruce walked to the end of the room, thinking. One thing came to mind quickly. They stopped, and he lowered his voice to a whisper. "The real reason I sang 'Am I Blue'. What was it?"

The tightening of her mouth and the narrowing of her eyes would have told him the answer even before the words came out. "Mom's favourite song," she murmured without hesitation. "Seemed appropriate."

Finally satisfied, Bruce nodded. "Alright."

The two of them walked back to the other seven figures. "Conference room," Bella ordered, putting her mask back on. Any doubt that the others may have had about her not being Batman's counterpart was instantly erased.

Wonder Warrior glanced at them with a shrug. "She does that." He left too, Diana hurrying to get in front of him. She stopped, and the two Amazons sized each other up, both with arms folded. Though that posture did things for her that it certainly did not do for Damien, Bruce noted.

"You're an Amazon?" she asked disbelievingly.

"Yes. Believe me it's as strange for me as it is for you," he answered. "So in this world, Themyscira is populated by _women_?"

She nodded. "Yes. And you were raised by your father?"

Damien nodded. "Yes." Then he paused. "Who is your mother?"

"Don't answer that," Batman interrupted. "The less we know about each other the better. We're the same people but we've obviously led very separate lives."

Batwoman flicked a sharp glance at him before entering the conference room. Flash had run ahead and manage to commandeer another two chairs from somewhere, and the nine of them sat around the table, everyone looking at Batwoman. "You said the League was gone?" Superman asked.

"Yes," she replied. "As far as we know, the attack targeted the founding members – my suspicions rest with Luthor and Morgan Le Fay."

"Working together?" Hawkgirl asked. "Doesn't seem likely."

"Actually it's the logical next step for the League's enemies to take," Bruce said. "Using science to bring us down doesn't work, and neither does using magic."

"Combined it works," Wonder Warrior put in. "Morgan apparently teleported all except the seven of us into another dimension, while Luthor targeted the conference room."

"How did you escape?" Diana asked.

He frowned in puzzlement. "Well we were-"

"Somewhere else," Batwoman interrupted with a warning look at her colleague. "As for what Luthor used, and how she's still doing it, we still don't know. But Superwoman, Hawkman, Flash, Green Lantern and our Martian Manhunter have all gone rogue."

"They've become the Justice Lords?" GL questioned.

Batwoman shook her head. "No. They don't have that agenda or motivation – they've declared themselves gods, all of them. Whatever Luthor planned, it's backfired, since even she can't control them. We managed to open up a boom tube and trick them into it; they're at the other end of the universe for now, but that won't last long."

"So you want us to help you defeat them when they return," Superman assumed.

"No," she said. "If we're to combat Luthor, as well as get Le Fay to bring the rest of the League back…we need more manpower. The two of us just aren't enough, especially since the world is still going through the rest of its normal problems. We need a functioning League if I'm going to get to Luthor. Once she talks-"

"How do you know she will?" Clark interrupted.

Batwoman gave him a Batglare and continued. "Once she talks I should be able to reverse the process, with some help," she added, looking at her counterpart.

Diana spoke. "Would they be able to return to Earth before you get back? The information in the Watchtower computer-"

"I blew it up," Batwoman interrupted. "Again. Programmed the controls so that it would fall to Earth in a descent that means it should have burnt up on re-entry."

Batman nodded. "Alright. In the morning then."

She nodded. "We need to rest, tomorrow is fine."

"How long will it take?" Flash asked.

"However long it takes," was the simple reply.

"She's almost as helpful as you are," Wally groaned, earning himself two identical glares.

Diana got up, smiling. "I should go. I have to call King and postpone dinner."

Batwoman's head turned – not to look at Wonder Woman, but to deliver a narrow-eyed stare at Batman. Damien glanced at Bella, one eyebrow raised in question. She shook her head every so slightly and made a placating motion with her hand. She stood up, and for once taking a hint, Flash did too. "I'll show you your rooms."

Bella's reply was directed at Bruce, and utterly scathing. "We just need the one," she said before stalking out.

Damien stood up sharply. "Damn it, Bella!" he muttered under his breath.

Bruce thanked God Diana had not been in the room for that; the moment had just become unspeakably awkward even without her presence. Thanks to years of built-up fear, no one dared to say anything. Flash thought about it, but a firm elbow in the ribs from GL made him think better. Clearing his throat with an embarrassed sound, Clark left the room first. Then GL dragged Shayera out of the room before she could say anything to Bruce. She still managed to shoot a smug grin at him.

---

Once inside the room, Bella took her personal computer from her belt, cursing inwardly when she found it showed only static. _Don't know why I'm surprised. _

The door opened and shut again, admitting her husband. "Was that really necessary?" he asked, crossing his arms.

"Absolutely," she replied, pulling her mask off, along with the cape. "My computer's down, I can't get a reading on our world at all. If the Watchtower entered the atmosphere at the wrong angle-"

"You did the calculations correctly, Bella, you know it hasn't."

"I should have stayed, I should have _made sure_-"

"Bella!"

She looked up at the tone, unused to hearing it from anyone. Damien was probably the only person in the League who spoke to her like that – aside from Kent, _occasionally. _"What?" she snapped. Her expression softened slightly when she saw his. "Damien…"

The Amazon wasn't to be dissuaded. "It was a stupid decision the first time, it would have been a stupid decision this time!" he retorted. "And I swear to Zeus I would have knocked you out and _thrown _you through that portal if you'd tried!"

Bella stood up and put a hand to his jaw. "Damien, you know I'll do what I have to do to guarantee the safety of Earth. And you know that if I have a choice, then I'll always come back to you." She smiled and pulled him down slightly for a kiss. She stopped a centimetre away. "And for the record, Prince, it wasn't a stupid decision the first time," she whispered. Before Damien could answer, Bella's mouth was on his, soundly kissing away his reply.

---

"Thank you for being so understanding about this, King," Diana smiled.

On the screen in front of her, King Faraday's face returned it. "It's fine, Diana, we can reschedule anytime you like."

This would have only been their third date – the first one had been a surprise to both of them, a few weeks ago. Things between she and Batman had been travelling in a direction she liked; their banter had gotten steadily flirtier recently, and she'd even got a couple of actual smiles. A few times she'd caught him looking at her during meetings, making her blush slightly in way she was sure hadn't gone unnoticed. If they were alone together, he kept opening his mouth as if to tell her something, only to shut it again and stalk away. Slowly, against the wishes of her brain, Diana's hope had begun swelling again. Maybe it wasn't too late. Maybe…

All the 'maybes' had come crashing down at the beginning of the month, when, at the end of a founder's meeting with only them left in the room, Diana had smiled and asked in as breezy a tone as possible if he fancied joining her for dinner in the cafeteria. It strictly _not _a date, mainly because she wasn't sure he was ready for it to be called that.

Batman had only shook his head. What his exact words had been she couldn't quite remember, but after Catwoman had been mentioned, Diana had interrupted, feeling hurt. There was some small part of her brain that was kicking the rest of her as it heard the words. "But I thought…" she blurted.

He just turned opaque lenses on her. "Thought what, Princess?" She was fairly sure that she hadn't imagined the scorn in his voice.

When, ten minutes later, Diana had been called to a mission, she was definitely glad of the excuse to kick some ass. It took her less than forty five seconds to pick up Copperhead, throw him into Shade and punch Star Sapphire out of the sky. By the time the Justice League liaison and his unit had turned up, Diana was tying them all up rather more roughly than was absolutely necessary. With a lamppost. Agent Faraday stopped a few feet away and gave her an easy smile. It was so unlike Bruce, that smile. Just…effortless, unforced.

"Hello, Wonder Woman. I see you've been busy-"

"Would you like to have dinner with me, Agent Faraday?" she asked bluntly.

King blinked rapidly. "Uh, _huh_?"

She repeated her question more slowly. He blinked a little more, but nodded slowly, seeming rather stunned. "Yeah, sounds great."

Such was his obvious pleasure at the idea, Diana couldn't help but smile, pushing down the small amount of guilt she felt. She knew she didn't really want to date King Faraday, she only wanted to get back at Batman.

But when they actually went out to dinner – in a small Italian restaurant in New York – Diana discovered something. She enjoyed King Faraday's company. It was comfortable, relaxing. Her heart-rate remained pretty steady throughout the entire evening – she had fun, but it was just that. Fun.

Still, there was nothing wrong with that, and Diana was more than happy for it to continue. Onscreen, King checked his watch. "Damn, I have to go. Meeting with the director of the FBI in ten."

"Alright," she smiled. "Duty calls."

"Later, beautiful," he said softly.

She grinned. "Take care, King. Bye."

---

**A/N: Review please!**


	3. Opposites And Differences

**A/N: Right, I'm operating on the basis that CADMUS hasn't been closed down yet – that could be wrong, and if it is I'm sorry – tbh I'm not an avid follower of the cartoon, and just tend to watch all the best BMWW episodes. Or WW, or BM. Lol. I have no idea if Waller had her change of heart before the end of JLU. If CADMUS isn't going anymore, then there's a plot hole, but I'm sure you can just gloss over that, can't you? **

**Enjoy!**

**Chapter Two – Opposites and Differences**

Bella couldn't sleep. She knew she should; if she didn't get some rest soon then she would be unable to function at full capacity, and be no help whatsoever in reclaiming their world. But she couldn't. Partly it was because it felt so _wrong _not to be out patrolling Gotham, worse because it was so easy to forget that this wasn't her world, and that the city of this Earth didn't belong to her. Its citizens weren't hers to protect, and they had their Dark Knight watching over them. Her Gotham didn't. She shifted slightly. No. Oracle would notice she'd dropped off the map, and Nightwing and Robin were more than capable of protecting Gotham until she got back. The Joker was back in prison just before all this started, and hopefully she'd stay there for a while, though with all the craziness of the League there were no guarantees.

Next to her, Damien moved onto his stomach and opened one eye. "You still awake?"

She nodded without speaking. He put an arm around her waist and pulled her closer, planting a gentle kiss on the side of her neck. "Go to sleep, Bella."

She mindlessly began stroking his arm softly, from bracer to shoulder in a gesture with a slightly possessive edge to it. That, of course, was the real reason she couldn't sleep. Bruce and Diana. The idea of not having Damien was inconceivable – more than that, it was _painful_. True, they'd only been together two years and married less than two weeks, but she couldn't begin to remember how she'd survived without him. She didn't want to. Everything else around her could shift and change as long as she had him. So how was it that this world still had a properly functioning League, that Earth wasn't in danger, but that the entire universe was so glaringly _wrong_? Seeing Diana, she hadn't been attracted to her exactly, but still felt a similar sort of emotion she did with Damien, an intuition that this woman was very much hers, just as he was. But for the first time in a long time, the World's Greatest Detective found herself utterly stumped.

Why – _why _– would _he _not recognise that fact?

It hadn't been an easy decision, letting Wonder Warrior into her life and heart, but an inevitable one. On some level, some part of her had recognised that from the very first moment. It had been like water, eroding the walls and barriers. Slow, perhaps, but immeasurably powerful. Apart from that last surge which had finally broken the dam, of course. That was anything but slow.

But surely Bruce must have gone through the same emotions as she. Surely he had to recognise the futility of his inaction. Tenacity was all very well as long as it achieved something. What had his accomplished? It was anger keeping her awake. Anger that although Diana wasn't hers, she should be _his_, and she wasn't. He was squandering the chance to love the most extraordinary person in this universe. Nothing could justify that. Nothing.

"Damien?" she murmured.

"Mmm?"

"Damien, I have to ask you something," she whispered.

He tuned on his side and opened his eyes sleepily. "What is it?"

"If I…hadn't let you in, if I hadn't told you I loved you…would you have moved on?" She swallowed and spoke her deepest fear. "Would you have found someone else to fall in love with?"

Her tone more than anything woke him up. It was only the second time in his life he'd ever heard her…afraid. "Bella, what-"

"Please, just…answer me honestly."

He thought about it. "I think so," he said eventually. "Finally I would have given up hope. You were doing a pretty good job of convincing me you didn't want me."

She nodded. "That's what I thought."

"But," he continued, brushing a strand of her dark hair from her face, "it wouldn't be the same, Bella. I would…have to learn to love anyone else. You…I never had to learn. You just fitted – the idea of us was _right_. Even if convincing you of that was more difficult."

"I'm sorry," she whispered. She leaned forward and kissed him, then moved her head into the hollow between his neck and shoulder. _Oh God I don't deserve this man. _Feeling heat prickle at the corners of her eyes, Bella willed the tears back. Damn hormones. She was _not _going to cry.

Damien put a finger under her chin and kissed her again. "I love you, Bella. It doesn't matter what could have been, and it doesn't matter that for whatever reason _they _aren't together. We are. There are a million potentials in the world, but only the reality matters. And the reality is that you have me. And you will never lose me."

Gratitude and love willing up in equal measure, Bella traced kisses along his jaw to his mouth, kissing him passionately.

She still didn't sleep for another hour after that – they were newlyweds, after all.

---

Shayera got up at five am everyday; it was hangover from her days as a detective on Thanagar; she'd get up, go for her morning fly, work out for an hour, then shower, breakfast and then work. Obviously living on a satellite put paid to the idea of a morning flight, but Shayera still worked out in the morning. Smashing training bots was good fun too. She'd tried lying-in, but hadn't managed past seven am, her eyes just refusing to stay shut any longer. After she'd gotten up, trained, showered and dressed, the redhead headed for the commissary. She got her breakfast and sat down, not really feeling like company while she was eating.

She'd eaten her cereal and moved onto toast when a dark shadow fell over the table. "Mind if I join you?" an unfamiliar male voice asked.

Shayera looked up into Wonder Warrior's dazzlingly blue eyes. Her brain temporarily switched off at the sight of the most beautiful man she'd ever seen in her entire life. "Uh, sure," she finally managed.

He smiled and sat with, unsurprisingly, an iced mocha in his hand. "So…what's your name?" he asked. "Sorry, I didn't catch it further than Hawkgirl last night."

"Shayera," she smiled.

His eyebrow flicked up slightly, but he smiled anyway. "It's nice to meet you, Shayera."

"What?" she asked, sharp eyes catching his initial reaction.

He shrugged in an uncomfortable manner. "I was just thinking about the differences between our worlds. You and Hawkman, for instance."

"What's his name?" she asked curiously.

Damien shifted a little more uncomfortably, but, like Diana, seemed incapable of lying. "Hro Talek."

Her mouth fell open, then she looked away, biting her bottom lip. "Oh."

"I'm sorry," he said gently.

She shook her head, swallowing the lump in her throat. "Don't be. Not your fault." She took a sip of her coffee and cleared her throat. "I don't understand why, though. Surely things in your world are the exact opposite of this one, so why isn't 'Hawkman' just a male version of me?"

"I don't know," he said. "Some things _are _like that – Wonder _Woman _is one – but other things aren't. J'onn for example…"

"You don't have a Martian?" she asked in surprise.

"Oh no, we do, it's just…"

"…just something you shouldn't be discussing," a voice growled.

Damien jumped like a guilty child and looked sheepishly up at Batwoman. "They have a right to know," he said.

"That's for J'onn to decide." She looked at Shayera, her lenses narrowed slightly. "You've already said too much."

"I don't mind," Shayera said defensively.

Batwoman only looked at her. "Not here you might not. But we're not staying here for long. If you're finished with your breakfast then there's a briefing in the conference room."

"Have you eaten?" Damien asked her.

"I'm fine," she answered shortly.

"It's not _you _I'm worried about," he retorted.

Shayera frowned in puzzlement a little before it clicked in her head, and then her eyes widened in shock, moving up to Batwoman's face. Bella narrowed her eyes in return, and blew out an impatient sigh through her nose. "Fine, I'll eat. _After _the briefing."

Damien looked like he wanted to argue, but also that he knew how futile arguing with the Bat was. "Alright. Lead the way…"

The three of them left the commissary and headed to the elevator, going down three floors to the conference room. Shayera followed a little behind, watching the two of them closely. It was subtle, she had to hand it to them, but with her natural observance it was clear to see how Damien stuck a little closer to Bella than he needed to, how he held his arm slightly away from his body, ready to defend her at a seconds' pause. It was the same with Bella, but she'd expected that. Around Diana, Bruce was the same, his muscles and stance a little tauter when she was around, he was more alert – if that were even possible. Shayera wasn't sure he knew how much he broadcast his feelings about her, but for someone who'd known them both as long as the Thanagarian had, it was quite obvious.

Arriving at the conference room, they entered, Shayera taking the spare seat next to John. They exchanged one slightly awkward glance – it was always slightly awkward now, and she couldn't see any chance of that changing anytime soon – before the redhead had to look away, swallowing hard and trying not to think about Hro. She'd made her choice, a long time ago. Of course, it was a choice that hadn't led to anything good…Not that she could blame John for that.

Biting her lip slightly, she met Diana's concerned blue gaze across the table. The Amazon raised an eyebrow in askance, and Shayera stopped biting her lip and nodded, trying for a reassuring smile. It didn't feel like she managed it, but it seemed to assuage the princess, who turned her attention back to what Batwoman was saying.

"We need to leave as soon as possible," she said, taking a disc out of her belt and placing it on the table. "This is a programme that should open a portal between our worlds, but I need to make a few adjustments. At the moment it's a same-site transfer; with our Watchtower gone that obviously won't work."

"The Cave," Batman supplied.

She nodded. "Yeah. It's the only place on Earth that's safe. At the moment Damien and I don't have the authorities after us; if we turn up with all of you then that will change quickly."

"What about CADMUS?" Diana asked. "Seems like a prime opportunity for them to shut down the League for good."

"CADMUS isn't a problem at the moment. They won't be until the rest of the founders turn up."

"How did you wangle that?" Superman asked. "Waller-"

"Waller and I have an understanding," Bella interrupted in a quelling tone.

"But only until the others find their way back to Earth," GL surmised.

"Pretty much," Wonder Warrior said. "But I managed to get Kyra's – our Green Lantern – ring away from her, so that should slow them at least a little."

"But not enough for us to just sit here," Batwoman put in. "I need to get to work on the programme."

"I'll help," Bruce said.

"That's it," Bella finished. They all got up, and GL left quickly, Superman following.

Damien tapped Diana on the shoulder. "Would you like to spar?" he asked.

An eager grin lit up her face, and Shayera suspected that she'd just been itching for a chance to take…herself on. "Sure."

Just before he went through the door, Bella called to J'onn. He stopped and walked back to her.

"I don't think it's a good idea for you to come," she said quietly.

The Martian nodded slowly. "I agree. Much as I…"

Bella reached up and squeezed his shoulder. "I'm sorry, J'onn."

He placed his hand over hers and returned the gesture before walking away. "Hey…I don't get it," Flash complained.

Bella didn't answer, and Damien spoke quietly. "Our Martian Manhunter…is My'ri'ah. J'onn's first wife."

---

**A/N: Review please!**


	4. Not The Same

**A/N: Thanks for reviewing to everyone who did. And here's the next chapter. **

**Chapter Four – Not The Same **

"With powers, or without?"

Diana looked at him oddly, then realised. Since her main sparring partner was Batman, she'd gotten used to automatically not using her powers in training. Sadly she and Superman hadn't found time to train together in a while. She smiled. "With."

Damien returned the smile. "I'm glad you said that; Kel and I haven't had chance to recently."

"Kel?" she asked.

"Kel-Al. Superwoman," he added, mouth turning down at the corners.

"Ah, I see." Still seeing him looking miserable, she smiled encouragingly. "Don't worry. We'll be able to get them back to normal."

He nodded. "I hope so."

"How can we fail to?" she asked. "With a Batwoman and a Batman on the case?"

He flashed a brief grin. "True."

Coming to the training room, she opened the door and walked inside, then moved to the far side of the room, stretching and warming up with the techniques that the Amazons had been using exclusively for thousands of years. It was more than unsettling to see a man perform the identical moves with the same fluidity and obvious knowledge that she did. She pushed it aside, reminding herself that at the end of the day, Damien was an Amazon in his world. It was not heresy that a man should hold that sacred knowledge.

Finally, she smiled at him once they'd both finished. "Ready?"

"Ladies first," he said.

Diana nodded, then moved, flying toward him, preparing to aim a kick at his mid-section. Despite her speed and strength, he managed to doge to the side, grab her ankle and use her own momentum to twirl around and hurl her into the wall. Diana brought her other leg forward and used the metal as a springboard, diving back toward Damien. This time, she managed to land a hard punch to his head, and he took a step back, but grabbed her wrist and twisted her arm up and behind her back. Diana kicked out, hooking her foot around the back of his knee and pulling him down. Forced to let go of her arm, Damien landed heavily on his knees, but managed to elbow the back of _her _knee, then grab her in a chokehold. Diana grabbed his forearm and threw him over her head, then shot up from the floor.

Damien rolled to one side, and rather than impact upon his face, Diana's boot made an impact crater in the floor. While she attempted to extricate herself, Damien got up, then bodily lifted her up, throwing the princess into a wall. Diana hit it with a groan of pain, but didn't have time for much else before Damien sunk his fist into her stomach. She used the pain and channelled it into aggression, bringing her leg up in a snap kick that connected with his jaw with a crack. She'd put enough force into it so that he found himself in a backward somersault, ending with him floating near the ceiling. It provided no escape from Diana, who only shot upwards herself. It was Damien's turn to aim a kick, which connected with Diana's shoulder, and though didn't push her to the floor, forced her back several feet. He flew down to meet her, and for the next few moments the two Amazons fought hand-to-hand, exchanging blows with lightning speed and shocking power. Warrior blood pumped furiously through both of them, millennia of fighting tradition building to a head and releasing in a flood of strength.

It wasn't the same as fighting Bruce, she reflected. With Bruce, because of his lack of meta powers, she had to think through her movements, to be quick not only in body but also in mind. That was why Bruce was such a deadly opponent – his brain moved with the same swiftness that Flash did. This wasn't like that. This was raw power, brute force at its most potent. Not brainless by any means, but far deeper, more primal. Instinctual. Effortless. Amazons, doing what they'd been born to do. Unconsciously, they slipped into the ancient rules of Amazon combat. The sparring session would conclude when first blood was drawn.

By a ridiculously narrow margin, Diana was the victor. She had Damien pressed against the wall, her hand around his throat. He lashed out, landing a hard blow to her temple. In retaliation, she hit him in the side of the mouth with her elbow. His bottom lip split, and they both stopped. Diana took a step back, and they bowed to one another.

"Well done," he said.

"And to you," she acknowledged. "You fight extremely well."

"Warrior born," he smiled.

Feeling a warm stickiness at her hairline, she put a hand to her head. Her fingertips came away red. "I'm bleeding," she noted with surprise. "Perhaps we should call it a draw."

"No, Diana," he said. "I lost to a worthy and skilled opponent. There is no shame in that."

Diana wiped the sweat from her forehead. "Thank you." She motioned with her head toward the doors. "Iced mocha?"

He grinned. "Sounds great."

---

"Damn it!" Bella muttered under her breath. "Why the hell did I have to do this in such a hurry?"

"Not found it yet?" Batman enquired.

"Oh I've found it," she replied. "Buried right in the core programming. To get to it I'm going to have to go through every single line of code. I may as well just delete the whole thing and start again."

"So just do that," he commented.

"Not enough time," she said. "If I start all over again then we won't get back in time for-" She broke off, but he knew what she meant.

"Still, you have no choice," he pointed out bluntly. "You can't add another command into the programme; it will clash with the previous line of code and absolutely nothing will happen."

"I know that!" she snapped. "I'm just trying to think of another way, that's all."

"You're not going to find one." His voice softened slightly; he, of all people, knew exactly why she wanted to get back to her own world by tonight. Exactly the same reason he was hoping that they wouldn't succeed. Either way, one of them would end up missing it. For the millionth time, the thought crossed his mind that the universe just wasn't fair.

There was a pause, then she let out a very rare sigh. Finally wiping the entire disc, Bella began again. In terms of most computer programmes, it wouldn't actually take long. No more than twenty-four hours, certainly, rather than the days or weeks it would take most people. But twenty-four hours would without doubt be too late.

"The Watchtower generator doesn't produce enough power to open the portal and keep the satellite in orbit," Batman said, checking the power output. Well, that wasn't strictly true; it did, but the life-support systems would have to be turned off. Slightly tricky for those people who breathed oxygen.

"I know," she said, "but I'm hoping you know a Static in this universe?"

He nodded. "Of course, he can put more juice into the generator. He's certainly done it before."

"With Braniac."

"Yes. I'll go get him."

"Not yet," she said. "Unless you want him wreaking havoc onboard for the next twelve hours."

He smirked. "True."

The two of them, unsurprisingly, worked well together, quickly and calmly without needing to talk. They were in the Monitor Womb, with Captain Atom and Mr Terrific directing the operations of the League on Earth on the other side. Bella had decided now wasn't the time to confront him about Diana, and it was easier when neither she nor Damien was around. That changed when, a few moments later, the two Amazons entered the Monitor Womb, both with cold coffee in hand.

Bella wordlessly put her hand over her shoulder, palm up to Damien without ceasing typing with her other hand.

"It was close!" he protested.

She only beckoned. Damien rolled his eyes behind her back and tugged a twenty dollar bill out of his boot, then slapped it into her palm. "Happy now?"

She didn't look around. "Well done, Diana."

The princess blinked, blushing slightly. "Thank you. How's it going in here?"

"Less than well," Bruce answered. "We've had to delete the entire programme and start again."

"How long is that going to take?" Damien frowned.

"Too long," Bella answered shortly. She paused, the bottom half of her face draining of colour. "Excuse me."

Moving quickly, she left the Monitor Womb, her hand travelling to her mouth. As he exchanged a glance with Wonder Warrior, Bruce's frown deepened. Another complication. Not what they needed. Another thing to conceal from Diana. Not what he needed. Last night's patrol had been bad enough – a slow night that gave him far too much time to think about the differences between Bella's life and his. Or rather, the one, glaring, difference. He wondered how long they'd been together. Enough time to prove the reasons wrong? He wanted to know what had made Bella change her mind. One thing, or a gradual chain of events? Was it because she was a woman? Because there was something else different about their lives? He had imagined too many times last night putting himself and Diana in their place. He knew Bella would have questioned it herself – was the fact that their League was gone and his wasn't a consequence of them being together? He didn't see how it could be, but reality was an odd thing, changed by the slightest shift in individual lives.

It didn't help that tonight was the night. This was the night, every year, that he found himself wanting to reach for Diana. The urge was getting more powerful with every year that passed. She had the potential to be everything he'd lost. Last year he'd left the site, then stood at the gates with his hand to his ear, torn between going back to the manor and requesting a teleport to the Watchtower. It had taken him ten minutes to decide to return to the manor.

Bella came back after a few moments, a glass of water in her hand. She placed it to one side after delicately wiping the corner of her mouth and resumed her typing.

---

Four hours later, it was ten pm eastern standard time, and Bella was getting increasingly bad tempered. Without a word, Bruce got up and left. After he'd gone Bella ran her hands over her face and fought the urge to punch something. Diana and Damien were still in there, since Diana had monitor duty and Damien didn't have anything better to do.

At her slumped shoulders, Damien got up and made his way over to Batwoman. He put a hand on her shoulder, not saying anything, just being there. Bella stood and moved into his arms. "Damien…It just feels so wrong…"

Diana tried not to stare at the obvious intimacy between them. She doubted that Batman would let her comfort him like that. Was there something between Batwoman and Wonder Warrior that there wasn't between she and Bruce?

The doors to the Monitor Womb opened again, and the Dark Knight came through them again. Bella let go of Damien as he walked directly to her.

"It's not the same." From underneath his cape, he held out a single rose to her. "But you're welcome to come."

Bella's mouth fell open, and she took the flower with shaking hands, the blood-red petals trembling in synch. "Are you sure?" she whispered.

He said nothing, but nodded once. Her shoulder slumped in relief. "Thank you. Thank you so much."

As the two Bats walked away together, Diana was reminded painfully of why she loved that man…had loved…still loved… It wasn't often that he displayed overt softness, if at all, but every once in a while, he'd make small gestures of kindness that made her think the same thing she had on meeting him. That he was the best man she'd ever known. Not that he was the only good man, she sternly reminded herself. It didn't matter that Bruce was the best – he wasn't prepared to be hers. She had another man willing to give himself to her though, a good man.

A man who wasn't Bruce.

---

**A/N: Review please!**


	5. Food For Thought

**A/N: Thank you very much for the reviews!**

**Chapter Five – Food For Thought**

_This is weird. _

The same thought crossed both of their minds at identical times, then they cast slightly nervous looks at each other. This late at night, there was no one in sight, and no danger of being seen, so they were both still wearing their costumes. Well, in this world Bella didn't have anything else to wear, so she really didn't have a choice. Bruce had parked outside the gates, activated the security systems on the car and together the two Bats had walked silently intro the graveyard. And it felt odd. It felt…almost sacrilegious, in a way. There was a part of each of them that kicked and screamed. This was something they did alone. It wasn't meant for anyone else to witness.

She took a deep breath and reminded herself that it was better than the alternative: not visiting their graves at all. Bruce was doing this as an act of kindness. She owed him for this. Not being here would be unbearable. She clutched the rose in her hand a little tighter, and drew herself up slightly. Maybe this was a sign that she wasn't meant to be doing this by herself anymore. She knew Damien would come with her if she asked – so far she hadn't. She should have done by now.

"Where were you?" Bruce asked suddenly.

"I'm sorry?"

"You stopped Wonder Warrior from saying it when you first arrived. Why weren't you with the rest of the Founders? Where were you?"

"Oh," she said, realising. "The Seychelles. Shortest honeymoon in history."

He smirked. "Seychelles. Nice."

She returned the smirk. "I bought the island specially."

He chuckled quietly, but his laughter faded the closer they got to the middle of the cemetery. It was Gotham's largest, easily a ten minute walk from the gate to the Wayne family vault. Finally, as one, they stopped in front of the headstone. It was under the shelter of an ancient yew tree, and its branches seemed to curl down, a sanctuary to the two of them. Its presence was a comfort to Bella, since it was the same in her world. It made it easier to pretend these were her parents.

Side by side, they stood there in silence for a moment, heads bowed and eyes closed, remembering.

_The laughter. The happiness. The love. _

_And then the gun. _

_The shouts. The blood. The pearls and the rain. _

_The loss of everything. _

Mom. Dad. Gone.

With neither of them deciding it, their hands grasped each other. Bella felt the grief recede, just a little. It was still there, but it wasn't as…raw, as it normally was. He was warm even through the glove. They didn't speak, or look at each other. After what could have been an hours' silence, Bruce let go of her hand and knelt, gloved fingers reaching out to trace the letters of his mother's name.

Bella did the same, touching Thomas's headstone and remembering everything her father had been – every joke, every piggy-back ride, every snowball fight. Every time she was told to take her shoes off in the house, or every time he scolded her if she'd done something wrong. Every time she'd pestered him to take her to work with him so she could see what he did every day.

By silent confirmation, they swapped. Her hands trembled a little bit more this time, and unconsciously she put a hand on her still-flat stomach. _What do I do, Mom? What if I can't do this? _

Every nursery-rhyme. Every comforting hug after a nightmare. Every time Mom had tucked her in when she was sick, dusting her forehead with light kisses. Every time they held a party, or went to the opera, and how radiant she looked in her evening gowns. Making breakfast for her on Mother's Day, her and Dad together, which would end up with both of them covered in pancake batter and orange juice and eggs and seeing Mom utterly bursting with happiness when Bella delivered it to her in bed, beaming with pride at the burnt mess she'd managed to create.

She brought the rose to her lips, kissed the velvety petals and lowered it to Bruce's, stem to stem. They put one hand each on the headstones.

_I miss you. _

_I love you. _

_And I'm trying. _

---

The silence, this time, was…full. Tense. Going to the graves together had changed something, bonded them in some way. Now, Bella wasn't just the 'other him', she was…family. He hadn't realised that by doing this, he'd create a sister for himself. It was an extremely odd sensation. Uncharacteristically, he felt the need to fill the quiet. But he had no idea what to say.

Thankfully, Bella spoke first. "Are you ever going to ask me?"

He glanced at her. "Ask you what?"

"The only two things I know that you don't."

He thought. It didn't take him long to realise what she meant, and the uneasy camaraderie he'd felt disappeared, replaced by aggravation. He did not want to talk about Diana. "I have no idea what you mean," he said roughly.

"Then I'll enlighten you," she said. "One: what made me change my mind? And two…what's it like, being married to the love of your life?"

"Diana is _not-_"

"Really? Then who else is?" she shot back sharply. "In my experience, I had Catman, and Ra's, Andrew, _maybe_ who I thought I loved. And none of them could even begin to compare to Damien. It always comes down to one issue, doesn't it, Bruce? They either can't handle the Bat, or Wayne. But I'm willing to bet Diana can."

He said nothing to that, since her words were only truth. Selina, Talia…it was almost impossible to even call them _women _next to Diana. No, that wasn't fair. In their own ways, they had loved him, and he them. But there just…hadn't been room in both parts of his life for them. Experience had taught him that relationships just weren't feasible. Had he been wrong in giving reasons that applied to them with Diana? He frowned, not liking where this train of thought was headed. If he accepted how different Diana was then it meant coming up with a whole new set of reasons. And he wasn't sure he was capable of doing that.

Bella watched him, seeming quite smug. "So: are you going to ask, or am I just going to have to start babbling? You know how we love to do that."

"Fine," he growled. "Tell me."

"The future," she said simply. "Seeing _her_ so…lonely and bitter…Death's never scared me. But the idea of being that old, and that alone…" She swallowed as she carried on. "And then watching him disappear right in front of me-" She looked away, speaking to the night. "You must have felt it too," she asserted. "Like…"

_Like a piece of my heart had died_, he completed silently. He also hadn't missed the hungry expression on his older self's face at the sight of her, or the horror when she vanished. Whatever happened, he'd never get over her. He knew that. Maybe he didn't need Diana to function. But he needed her to live. "So that's it?" he asked finally.

"You sound surprised," she noted.

"I am. It seems selfish."

She shrugged. "It was. I'm not going to pretend otherwise."

He frowned. "You don't feel…ashamed of that?"

She was silent for a moment. "I suppose I should. But then 'love seeketh only self to please'," she quoted softly.

"I thought it was 'love seeketh not itself to please'," Bruce said.

Bella smiled. "Blake had it right either way."

Finally they reached the manor, and Bruce parked the Batmobile in its usual place. He didn't kill the engine for a moment, though. "And the second one?" he asked quietly but quickly, almost as if the words were being forced from his throat. "…is it that good?"

Her answer was unexpected. "No," she said frankly. "It's better."

He paused. "I highly doubt that."

"So did I. For the first six months of our relationship I was convinced I was going to wake up at anytime."

"And you then you pushed him away," he said, no argument in his voice. It was what he would have done. It was what he had done.

"I tried," she corrected. "But – if you ever do let it happen – you'll learn. Once she has your heart, you won't be getting it back." Then she turned to him. "I have a question of my own." Taking his silence as assent, she continued. "How do you stand it?"

Bruce thought about telling his other self that Diana already had his heart, that the idea of her with King Faraday was more than painful – but in the end he held his tongue. It seemed Bella hadn't expected an answer, since she was out of the car as soon as she'd asked the question. But she'd left him with a lot to think about.

Which he suspected had been the point.

---

**A/N: Review please!**


	6. Stepping Between Worlds

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed, I hope you enjoy this chapter just as much as the last!**

**Chapter Six – Stepping Between Worlds**

Finally – _finally _– the programme was written, and ready to execute. Unfortunately, in order to be absolutely certain where the portal was going to open, they needed a frame to focus the energy on. It hadn't been so important in Batwoman and Wonder Warrior's world, since the Watchtower was being pulled apart anyway, but for obvious reasons, this world's satellite having a gaping hole in the hull wasn't a good idea.

To that end, the two Bats had enlisted Clark and Damien to bend the only steel that was available into a circular shape – the metal trays that the food was served on in the cafeteria. They'd be held together by a magnetic current that Bruce was creating. Diana and Shayera had gone down to the planet's surface to pick up Static, since they'd be needing his help as well. GL was also helping, ferrying cafeteria trays to one of the training rooms, where the portal would be opening.

No one really knew what Flash was doing.

It was only the work of half an hour to build it, and then another hour to connect the portal to the main CPU of the Watchtower. It took an hour because it was an intensely delicate operation that required dozens of wires to be connected into precisely the right places – a job that neither Bella nor Bruce would trust to anyone else.

Finally it was ready, and Hawkgirl and Wonder Woman were back with Static. "You know what you have to do?"

He nodded. "Sure thing, Batman."

"Good."

Bella turned and looked around the room. "Where the hell is Flash?"

There was a scarlet blur. "I'm here!"

His only answer was a glare, and then she turned back to the computer, Bruce next to her. "Running a last systems check. Magnetic field."

"Online."

"Inertial dampener."

"Online."

"Wormhole directional governor."

"Online."

"Inter-dimensional matrix."

"Online."

Secondary Watchtower power source."

There was a silence, and they both turned to look at the only teenager in the room, who blinked. "Oh me? Uh – online I guess."

"Then I think we're ready," she said.

"Hey, what's with the dinner trays?" Flash enquired.

"We improvised."

"Oh."

Bella's fingers tapped on the keyboard. "Executing programme…now." She nodded to Static, who held his hands out and began pumping the generator full of energy. There was a cracking, ripping sound, and suddenly the fabric of the universe was torn open, revealing a swirling vortex of gold. Bella nodded. "Everyone in."

Damien went first, followed by Diana and Superman, then GL, Shayera and Flash. Bella went next, nodding to J'onn. Bruce went last, clasping J'onn's shoulder briefly before nodding in thanks to Static and stepping through the portal.

It wasn't like the last such tunnel he'd been through; rather than the unsettling feeling of being broken down into infinitesimal pieces he felt as though he was being stretched to a ridiculous length. He suddenly got a glimpse of how it would feel to be Elongated Man. The sensation lasted no more than a few seconds, and then he was suddenly standing in the Cave. In Batwoman's Cave. It looked exactly the same as his did, which he found surprising, and not understanding why he was surprised.

Looking around, he and Bella were the only ones who'd managed to stay on their feet – Clark was somehow quite a distance away, and judging by the Superman-shaped crater in the granite wall he'd been forcibly ejected from the portal, and everyone else was groaning in various embarrassing positions on the floor. Most embarrassed appeared to be John and Shayera, who'd somehow got tangled up in each other and had ended up with GL lying on top of her, and both of them extremely red-faced. Which clashed horribly with the Thanagarian's vivid hair.

Eventually John got up and offered a hand to Shayera without looking at her.

A few feet away from Bruce, Diana was pushing herself up. He walked over and helped her up. She accepted his hand with a surprised but grateful smile. "Thank you."

He nodded and looked over to Bella. She'd already taken the cowl off, and walked over to the computers, sitting in the winged chair and tapping on the keys. "The Watchtower burnt up over the Atlantic," she said, a tiny touch of relief in her voice. "And Gotham is still standing. Most of it.

"What isn't?" Damien asked.

"Art gallery. Arson. Apparently a Picasso's gone missing and wasn't among the wreckage."

"So it was a theft."

"Looks that way. But at the moment I've got bigger fish to fry," she said. "Apart from that…no one seems to have noticed I'm gone. Nightwing did a good job."

Leaving the computers, she beckoned silently to the others and headed up the stairs. They all followed and came out in the library, the grandfather clock closing after Shayera.

"Winifred?" Bella called. Her eyes alighted on a note that had been placed on her desk. Frowning, she crossed to it, then her face relaxed as she chuckled, shaking her head. "Drawing room."

A minute later, the eight of them entered the drawing room, relieved expressions on both Damien and Bella's faces when they saw Winifred – a perfect, albeit female, version of Alfred, right down to the thin-lipped, totally unflappable demeanour. His age, her short grey hair in a stiff bun and dressed neatly in a black skirt and white shirt. "Good afternoon, madam, sir. I see you were successful in your efforts to procure aid. I took the liberty of laying out some refreshments on the coffee table."

Bella smiled. "Thanks, Winifred. How have things been here?"

"Wonderfully unremarkable, Mistress Bella. How many bedrooms would you like me to make up for our guests?"

"Six please."

"Very good, madam. Excuse me."

Nodding once, the Englishwoman left the room. Bella gestured to everyone to take seats on the couch and armchairs, and to no one's surprise, Flash had devoured an entire sponge cake within ten seconds, before the rest of them had even sat down.

"First things first," Bella began, "we need to formulate a strategy. Obviously as Shayera pointed out, it's unlikely that Luthor and Le Fay are still working together now that they've achieved their individual aims-" She broke off with a frown. "Diana?"

They all looked up, to where the Amazon princess was still standing, her gaze fixed on a picture on the mantelpiece, her eyes wide and mouth wide open.

It was a wedding photograph; Bella in a beautiful wedding gown, a beaming Damien with his arms around her.

"Ah."

Still apparently unable to speak, Diana turned back to the others, now looking at Bruce, her expression demanding an explanation.

---

**A/N: You'll have to wait and see what Diana has to say when she regains the ability to talk! Review please!**


	7. Fight

**A/N: Oh, and I haven't mentioned this, but story-wise it's December, coming up to Christmas. Sorry. **

**Chapter Seven – Fight**

Bruce was silent for no more than a few seconds before he spoke. "Maybe now isn't the right time, Princess."

Diana glared for a second longer, then took a deep breath and sat down next to Shayera with no comment, looking expectantly at Bella. Everyone else, having prepared themselves for a full-blown Amazon tirade, looked a little stunned. Flash looked positively disappointed. "…that's it?" he asked.

Diana cleared her throat. "Batman is right – there are more important things to discuss right now, Wally," she said lightly. Far too lightly. Diana only went that breezy when she was seriously pissed off. "Please, continue, Bella."

Batwoman blinked. "Uh, ok…" She cleared her throat. "Right, as I was staying, since science and magic are at such odds, it's unlikely that Le Fay and Luthor are still working together. If we assume that Le Fay can bring the rest of the League back, and Luthor the founders, then we have two options. Either we split up, and form two teams that could go after both at the same time, or we go after them one after another."

"Which would you recommend?" Clark asked.

"We take Le Fay first," she replied. "That way the rest of the League can look after Earth while we focus on Luthor."

"Agreed," Bruce said.

"For the sake of argument, what would the teams be?" Clark asked.

"Headed by Bella and I," Bruce said, "Flash, Damien, Shayera on one, Clark, Diana and GL on the other. But I agree with Batwoman. We should do this one at a time."

Superman nodded. "Alright. How do we go about finding Le Fay?"

"Bait," Bella said heavily. "Since we no longer have any League members with connections to the occult, we don't have a choice. So we have to make Le Fay think we have something he wants."

"Like what?"

"Well…we do have something Le Fay wants, right?" Damien asked.

"I was hoping not to use that," Bella said reluctantly.

"Do we have a choice?" her husband asked. "We need something Le Fay wants, and he'll definitely want that."

"Alright," she finally conceded. "But we can't risk him actually getting his hands on the sword-"

"Sword?" Wally asked.

"Excalibur." Bella spat the word out as if it tasted bad. "We have it."

Flash raised his eyebrows. "Excalibur as in…"

"Yes. And we have it, and Morgan Le Fay wants it."

"Why?" GL asked. "If it is real…it's just a sword."

"It's not. If he has it it'll renew his daughter. Gives eternal youth to the wielder," Bella explained. "Apparently."

"And the League has it?"

"No," she replied. "I have it. Zatan and I…acquired it years ago."

"So it's in the Cave?" Bruce asked.

She shook her head. "No. Zatan created a pocket dimension to hide it in. It can only be accessed at the full moon."

"Tomorrow," Diana put in.

Bella nodded. "And only I know where."

"Then we'll have to wait until-"

There was a knock on the door, and Winifred came into it, her expression betraying very slight anxiety. It alarmed Bella enough so that she stood up and moved forward. "What is it, Winifred?"

"I'm afraid there's been a break-in at Wayne Tech," the Englishwoman replied.

"What's been stolen?"

"Mrs Fox didn't say, madam. But your presence is required immediately."

She nodded and turned to her guests. "Bruce, will you come? If I have to make a public appearance then the crime scene will have to wait. By the time I'm able to get there degradation of the evidence will be too far advanced-"

He nodded. "I'll slip in the back while you hog the cameras."

"Good. No doubt Gordon will be wanting to talk to me as well."

"We should leave as soon as possible."

She nodded. "You can borrow some clothes from Damien's closet."

"Alright."

Both of them had had plenty of practice at changing clothes quickly, and within two minutes they were back downstairs. "Come on," Bella said, leading the way through the back of the manor to the garage, everyone else following.

Heading over to the key cabinet, she opened it, and held up two sets of keys, one in each hand. She turned to Bruce. "Veyron, or Zonda?" she asked, grinning wickedly.

One of Bruce's eyebrows cocked up. "You have both?" he asked.

She shrugged. "Yeah. Why? Which one do you have?"

"Neither," he admitted. "Couldn't decide which one to buy."

"Right," she said, raising an eyebrow of her own. "And you can't afford both?"

"Seemed a little extravagant, even for me. Out of curiosity, which one's your favourite?"

She considered, leaning on the roof of the Buggati. "Well…I mean on a lap, the Zonda wins hands-down. It's a half-ton lighter for a start, but in a drag race? Veyron beats anything you could throw at it. It has over a hundred extra horsepower, and don't get me started on the-"

"What about the air brake?" he questioned. "It always looked like just a gimmick-"

"Well it's not one," she replied. "Going around corners it's extremely effective, and on a straight run you can go from a hundred and twenty five to zero in four point five seconds-"

Flash interrupted. "Hey, billionaires!"

Both Bella and Bruce looked at him. "What?"

"Don't you have some place to be?"

Without further ado, Bella threw the keys to the Pagani Zonda to Bruce, and got into the Veyron herself. The two supercars started with almost deafening growls in the confined space. Soon enough, the billionaires and their vehicles had gone, down the drive to save their company in a squeal of tyres and roar of engines. Shayera and Diana glanced at each other, shrugging as dreamy expressions appeared on the faces of the men around them.

---

"Is there anything else I can help you with, Commissioner?"

Sarah Gordon shook her head. "I don't think so, Mrs Wayne. We'll let you know the results of the investigation."

Bella smiled. "I'd appreciate it."

"I really don't understand though…why break in if it wasn't to steal anything? If it was intellectual property, Mrs Wayne, you should have your IT techs do a full inventory. Contact the police department immediately if that's the case."

"I will."

"Right, I think that's it. Sorry for interrupting your honeymoon."

"Oh Damien's League duties interrupted it long before you did, Sarah," she replied, not really needing to fake the irritation in her voice. It wasn't often that she got to spend two whole weeks alone with Damien – but then it didn't seem like anything meaningful in their relationship could happen without it being interrupted. She should count herself lucky that their wedding had happened on schedule.

The two women shook hands, and the police left the building. Bella turned back to where Lucia Fox was standing. "Did they get anything?"

"No heavy items, obviously, and none of the computers seem to have been touched," she said. "But I'll check the records, see if anyone logged in once the building was supposedly empty."

"Good."

Fox lowered her voice. "I take it you'll be coming back later?"

Bella shook her head. "No need. I've got it covered."

Fox raised an eyebrow. "You're finally letting Wonder Warrior help out?"

The billionaire chuckled. "Not quite yet."

Fox frowned in question, but Bella shook her head. "I'll explain later, but we have help now."

"Help _you'd _let into Gotham?" Lucia asked with a wry smirk.

Bella nodded, then checked her watch. Bruce had had his thirty minutes, and there was one more stop she wanted to make before she went home. "I've got to go – let me know the second you find anything."

"Will do."

Bella left her office and headed down in the elevator. Rather than ride it all the way down into the parking lot, she left through the lobby. Wayne Tech was in the middle of the city, and she went toward the florist that was just a block away. A few moments later, she'd bought a bouquet full of flowers with strong, but pleasant scents. Smell was one of the most evocative senses, able to conjure up long-dormant memories and feelings, and since the person she'd bought these for wasn't awake to see them, there seemed little point in buying extravagantly beautiful blooms.

Making her way back to Wayne Tech, Bruce was waiting, leaning against the body of the Pagani Zonda. He raised an eyebrow at the flowers, but did not pass comment as Bella put them in the car.

"What did you find?" she asked.

He held up a clear evidence bag. "Three shell casings." Another bag. "And a memory stick. With a Lex Corp logo," he added significantly.

Bella raised an eyebrow, and nodded. "We'll analyse them back in the Cave, but we have to make one more stop on the way back to the manor," she said.

"Where?" he asked.

"Metropolis," she said curtly.

That wasn't anywhere near the route back to the manor, but Bruce didn't point that out. With the speed the cars went, it wouldn't take much time out of the day to get there – it was a hundred miles away, but they both drove at over a hundred miles an hour. Once in Metropolis, he followed the Veyron as Bella drove through the centre of the city. She headed toward Metropolis General Hospital, and pulled up outside it.

"Who's in here?" he asked.

She didn't answer, but took the flowers from the passenger seat and walked inside the building. He assumed she'd been here before, since she headed straight past the reception desk and into the elevator. He followed her along the corridor on the sixth floor to the room at the very end.

With her hand on the handle, she stopped and looked at him. "Louis," she said.

"What?"

She indicated the door. "That's who we've come to see. Louis Lane."

"Superwoman's husband?"

"Fiancé," Bella corrected. "They haven't married yet." She pushed open the door, and immediately Bruce heard the rhythmic beeping of a heart monitor. The two went inside, and he stopped, his mouth dropping open.

The man in the bed looked like Lois, as he'd expected – but he looked like how Lois would look if she'd been hit by a train. There wasn't one limb that wasn't in plaster, and there was strapping on his ribs, stitches on his face and head, and he was intubated, the soft wheezing sound of the machine breathing for him giving a mechanical soundtrack to the harrowing picture.

He glanced at Bella, unexpectedly finding tears in her eyes, but she cleared her throat when she noticed him watching, and put the flowers down, picking up an empty vase and carrying it into the adjoining room.

"What happened to him?"

Bella came out of the small bathroom with the vase now full of water. "Clara," she said, putting the flowers in. "We didn't get there in time. He tried to stop her, and she…well, it's obvious what she did. If we hadn't managed to get there in time then he would be dead right now."

"He's in a coma?"

She nodded. "Massive brain haemorrhage. The doctors were barely able to save his life. God only knows if he'll wake up again. If we fix this…the League won't have Superwoman. There's no way she'll trust herself after this."

"Do you trust her?" Bruce asked.

She turned to him and smirked ironically. "Do you trust Clark?"

His thoughts flicked back to what – without him – Clark had decided to do with Doomsday. "He's my best friend," he said eventually.

"And Clara is mine," she replied. "But that's not why I carry Kryptonite in my belt."

Bruce did the same; in a specially lined pouch, so that Clark wouldn't be affected by it and so that he himself wouldn't suffer any adverse effects from it as Luthor had. "No."

After Bella had put the flowers next to the bed and pulled the blankets up around Louis slightly, then placed a gentle kiss on his forehead, they left the hospital and headed back to Wayne Manor a lot slower than they'd left.

Well, at least Bruce drove more slowly than he had before, since he had a very angry Amazon to face. As they were leaving the garage, he'd chanced a look at her face. Her blue eyes were very open and frank, and let him know that by no means was he off the hook. And worse he knew she had a point. She had a very good point. He did owe her an explanation – if only regarding why she hadn't been told if nothing else. But he had a sinking sensation that she was going to take Bella and Damien's marriage as a sign that they were meant to be together. Surely she must know that he would never let anything in this world seriously affect _his _life?

"She does know that," he murmured to himself. Besides, it wasn't as if anything _could _happen in their world. His mouth curled into an almost-snarl. Not while Diana was with Agent Faraday. It was quite surprising, the very irrational hatred of the man that he'd developed. He didn't really know enough about him to hate him. So far, at least, the Bat was helping, calmly and logically analysing his emerging feelings about the matter with detachment. And as long as he was doing that, those emotions wouldn't be allowed to affect his relationship with Diana.

At least, they hadn't yet.

An hour and a half after leaving Metropolis, they arrived back at the manor. The garage was mercifully empty.

They moved into the house, finding the others in the living room. Damien stood up. "Well?"

"As far as we know nothing was stolen, but there's some evidence I'll have to analyse in the Cave," Bella told him. "Stopped by the hospital on the way back," she added in a lower tone.

"Any change?" he asked. Seeing her face, he held out an arm, and Bella stepped into it gratefully.

"No," she said. "He's still the same."

Flash opened his mouth to ask who, but Diana demonstrated that she had – to Bella at least – impeccable timing. She really hadn't wanted to explain to Clark who they had gone to visit. The Kryptonian was huge, but he still had that…innocent quality about him that Clara had. But she hadn't had to shatter that, since Diana got up without a word and took Bruce's hand, pulling him back out of the room.

"Where's empty?" she asked over her shoulder.

Bruce also looked over at their parallel selves, shooting a warning glance at them.

It did not have the desired effect. Both Bella and Damien looked at him with a look that said clearly _you got yourself into this mess, now get yourself out. _

"Ballroom," they answered in unison.

He didn't have time to intensify the warning glance into a full-blown Batglare, since Diana's grip had tightened painfully, and she was bodily yanking him from the room.

Once they were in the ballroom, which took surprisingly little time considering it was at the other end of the house, Diana dropped his hand like it was the fanged end of a snake. She didn't say anything for a moment though, and didn't stop until she was facing the huge Christmas tree at the other end of the room.

When the silence got to much, Bruce uncharacteristically was the one to break it. "Princess?"

"Why the Hades didn't you tell me?" she hissed.

"I didn't know how you'd react," he said honestly.

She scoffed. "I like to think of myself as a rational woman, Bruce, I really don't think learning about Bella and Damien would kill me."

He clarified. "Of course you're a rational woman, but it's different when we…are where we are."

Diana spun around to face him, her face a picture of fury.

"Did you think just because they're together I'd get down on my knees and _beg _you to marry me?!" she exclaimed. "I hate to break this to you, Bruce Wayne, but you're not the only man in the world worth loving!"

A sting of hurt welled up at her words, mingled with not a little panic. The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them. "You love him?"

Diana let out a laugh that had nothing whatsoever to do with mirth, and everything to do with exasperation and frustration. "Does it matter if I don't?" Her hands clenched into fists at her sides. "Damn it, Bruce, I don't want to _want _you anymore!"

Silence reigned supreme for the next few seconds. There didn't seem to be a right response for that. She was obviously tired of waiting for him, of being in constant limbo all the time. But she still felt something for him. She _did _still want him, but… "Where does that leave us?" he asked quietly.

She laughed again; a bitter, jaded sound that was nothing like Diana and that he never wanted to hear her utter ever again. "It leaves us where we've always been: nowhere." She stopped and sighed, suddenly looking very weary. "I want you, Bruce. But I can't keep chasing you. I won't keep chasing you," she said, looking at him very directly. "So decide what it is you want, what you don't want, and-"

"I _don't _want you dating King Faraday." The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them. He wanted to bite his tongue off almost immediately, and looked at Diana slightly pensively.

She didn't look angry anymore – she had a very…regal expression on her face. "Then fight for me," she said simply. "I'm done fighting for you."

---

**A/N: Review please!**


	8. Avoidance Tactics

**A/N: Wow this is a long chapter! Lol sorry about that! Thank you to everyone who reviewed, enjoy! **

**Chapter Eight – Avoidance Tactics **

Diana couldn't decide if Winifred's cooking was marginally better than Alfred's. She felt like a heretic for even considering the idea, but this crème brulée was utterly divine. She kept moaning in delight with every mouthful. Finally licking her spoon, she looked up to find Wally, John and Clark will staring at her. Bruce was studiously examining his own dessert. "What?" she asked.

Flash shook his head. "Di…you have no idea what kind of sounds you were making, do you?"

She blinked. "What do you-" Understanding flooded her brain, and colour flooded her cheeks. The silence was very awkward, until Damien broke it. Diana cast him a look full of gratitude and relief when he did.

The eight of them were seated around one end of the colossal dining table, just finishing the incredible meal that Winifred had conjured from somewhere. Diana and Shayera had borrowed some clothes from Bella's closet, if a room bigger than a normal person's apartment could be called a closet. Diana didn't think she'd ever seen so many designer labels in her life, and even now felt like she should be strutting down a catwalk in Milan rather than having dinner.

The male Amazon turned to his wife. "So are you going patrolling tonight?"

She seemed surprised at the question. "Of course."

"You should take Bruce," he suggested.

She frowned, then looked across the table at her counterpart. Diana knew Bruce well enough to know what she'd be thinking. The Bat didn't need help. The Bat did things alone. "Nightwing should already be out there," Bella said. "I don't think-"

Diana wasn't quite sure what happened then, but something obviously passed between the couple, something that didn't have to be put into words, but Damien's expression hardened briefly, while Bella's softened, and she changed her mind with a concealed sigh. "I don't think it's necessary," she said. "But you're welcome to come, if you want to."

Bruce considered, then nodded silently. He didn't show it, but Diana knew he would have been itching to patrol anyway – it was so easy to forget that this wasn't their world. This _was _Wayne Manor, right down to the slightly masculine décor. She was sure that Gotham was exactly the same city too. It was subconsciously engrained into her own mind that Bruce protected Gotham, and it would be a million times worse for him. Not patrolling would be like being asked not to breathe. Besides, it would give him time to think.

After their confrontation this afternoon, she'd said her piece, and then left, leaving Bruce to figure it out on his own. She felt immeasurably lighter – as though she hadn't realised how much it had been weighing down on her heart, the knowledge that she didn't really want anyone except Bruce. But something had clicked inside her, reminded her that she was Princess and Champion of the Amazons, and that it was not in her to _beg _for the affections of anyone, much less a man. So if he wanted her, then he could be the one begging. When she'd gone back to rejoin the others, it was with a smile on her face. The ball was in his court now, there was nothing else she could – or would – do. She'd come more than half-way, it was up to Bruce to make up the rest of the distance. Diana refused to let herself dwell on what he'd said. After all, 'I don't want you dating King Faraday' wasn't '_I _want to date you'. But if he thought that she'd accept that then he had another thing coming.

The princess cast a glance at the man opposite her from underneath her eyelashes. _I deserve to be loved, Bruce. And if not by you then by another man worthy of my affections. _

As if he had heard her, Bruce looked up, and they regarded each other for a moment silently until his eyes darkened with something she couldn't name. Diana bit her lip slightly, then realised what she was doing and stopped immediately with an inward sigh at herself. She would not let him know how badly he affected her. From now on she'd be cool and aloof toward him, a consummate professional, and no more.

Soon enough, Winifred came to clear the plates away, and Diana smiled. "That was delicious, Winifred, thank you. Though I shouldn't be at all surprised."

The Englishwoman nodded. "Thank you, Your Highness. It was my pleasure." She looked at Bella. "Will there be anything else, madam?"

"No, I don't think so, Winifred."

Winifred nodded, and withdrew again, and they all stood up, heading in various directions and dispersing throughout the manor. Diana had a feeling that Wally would be heading straight to Tia's room, since the lure of a Wii was apparently proving too much for him. Diana contented herself with a wander around the house – even when living there after the Thanagarian invasion she hadn't gotten a chance to explore all of the palatial residence. After a while she found herself in a small sitting room, the furniture much more comfortable and far less grand than the rest of the house. This had a much more lived-in feel to it. Feeling welcomed, Diana crossing to an inviting-looking armchair and sank into it.

She looked around the room for a few moments, then stood up again and went to the mantelpiece. A photograph on it had caught her attention just as the one in the drawing room had this morning. Another wedding photograph.

They were facing each other, a small piece of wedding cake in Damien's hand. He was holding it up to Bella's mouth, her lips parted slightly to take it. Her gaze was locked on his, for once totally uncovered and shining with joy.

"That one's my favourite," a quiet voice said.

Diana turned to see Damien leaning against the doorframe. He nodded toward the picture. "We didn't even realise we were being photographed. Tia took it, I think."

Diana nodded slightly and put it back on the mantelpiece. "You both look very happy," she said faintly.

He shrugged. "We were." He came further into the room. "Look, Diana…I know this can't be easy for you…"

"I just…I don't understand," Diana said, sitting down on the edge of the couch, miserable despite what she'd sworn to herself earlier. "If _you _can get Bella to…"

"Get over those rich-kid issues?" Damien asked.

A brief grin pulled at Diana's mouth. "Yeah. Then why wasn't I able to? I mean, is it just the risk that we might not be happy?"

"Oh trust me it's not that."

"So what?"

He took a deep breath. "I can only give you my suspicions," he said, "but it probably has nothing to do with you. In fact…he probably thinks that he's just not…good enough for you."

Diana stood up in anger. "Shouldn't _I _be the one deciding who's good enough for me?!"

He nodded. "But it took me a long time to get her to see that. And a glimpse of what her life would be without me apparently. It's not a future she likes talking about. She told me it's not one I ever want to live through. And then there's always the risk that accepting this…source of illumination into his life means the end of the darkness, of the shadows that the Bat needs to survive. We're...light, Diana. And until he takes the risk, there's no way to tell if your light is going to destroy what he's built up." Damien sat up slightly, looking deeply into Diana's eyes as if it were vital she understand. "He can never be perfectly happy, Diana. Not even with you. Not until the Bat is gone. He can be happy as Bruce, perhaps, but the moment the Bat becomes happy is the moment it gets destroyed. If you still feel you can love him…then you need to understand you'll be making a sacrifice too."

"You mean as long as Batman exists, I'll never have all of him," Diana whispered.

He nodded sadly. "But everything he can give, you'll have. Everything. It's up to you if that's enough."

The princess was silent for a long time. "I'm seeing someone else you know," she said after a while.

"I know."

She chuckled ruefully. "Of course you do." She looked up at her other self. "I'd be happy with a tenth of Bruce. But I can't take what he cannot offer."

She stood again and paced for a while, thinking hard. Damien seemed to be content to let her. It wasn't the ideal environment to think in, not for them – for them epiphanies were always bright and sudden, in the heat of battle normally. Pacing about and _brooding _was the territory of the people they loved.

Finally she turned back to Damien. "And you've paid the price?"

"Yes," he answered simply.

"Never regretted it?"

His mouth twisted. "It's not totally perfect, Diana. But no relationship is. There are still times when she tries to push me away, or…clams up. And then there's always that moment of doubt about…is the bond strong enough?"

"Does she love you enough?" she added in a morose tone.

Damien shook his head. "No. I've never doubted that. Not since we said 'I love you' to each other. Though you're right in that love is the problem. If he shuts you out it's likely to be because he loves you too much to see you get hurt, and in Bruce's mind, being involved with him can only lead to you getting hurt."

"But why would he think that?"

"Because that's what's always happened," another voice interrupted. Both Amazons looked around to see Bella coming in. Her expression was very tired, and very sad. "Diana, would you mind giving us a minute please?"

Diana nodded and left the room, glancing swiftly behind her, in time to see Damien pull Bella into his arms, kissing her forehead. Diana felt her heart unwillingly twist. She'd done that with Bruce a few times – not that he was aware of that fact. With the end of Doomsday, she'd feared that Bruce was seriously considering resigning from the League. So while he was still incapacitated in the Infirmary, Diana had taken to waiting until she knew he'd be sleeping, and snuck into the room, just to watch him. She hadn't done it every night, but at the end of a bad day…she'd watch him, allow herself to admit how much she loved him, and then left, placing one gentle kiss on his forehead before she went.

Of course, it was Bruce, so there was always chance he knew exactly what she'd done. Which was a cheek-warmingly embarrassing notion.

She walked around aimlessly for the next fifteen minutes or so, finally stopping outside the drawing room again. As she opened the door, she saw John and Shayera standing by the window, very close to one another. As soon as he spotted her coming into the room though, GL stepped back from the redhead and exited the room with a nod to Diana. She went inside with an apologetic grimace at Shayera. "Sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt anything."

Shayera shook her head. "There's nothing to interrupt," she said somewhat bitterly.

The silence became awkward again before Diana found a way to break the impasse. Spotting a chessboard, she gestured toward the coffee table that it was sat on. "Want to play chess?"

Shayera perked up. "Are you sure you want to risk it, Princess?" she enquired, the teasing note coming back into her voice. "I've been known to beat Batman at this game."

Diana smirked. "So have I."

---

Bruce's life was flashing before his eyes. He knew he drove the Batmobile like a maniac on occasion, but apparently that was nothing compared to the way Bella did. He'd been choking down comments about women drivers since they left the Cave. The speedometer hadn't dropped below 120 mph at all. Worse, she didn't seem to be paying all that much attention to the road. With one hand she was retuning to radio to the police bands, with the other she was activating her com-link. That left…no hands on the steering wheel.

"Oracle, I'm back on the grid," she said. "Sit-rep."

For a few moments there was a silence as Oracle filled her in on what had happened while she was away. Bruce wondered what Oracle's name was while he fisted his hands in his cape to prevent himself from grabbing the steering wheel.

"On it," Bella announced suddenly, putting her hands back on the wheel. Bruce let out a minute sigh of relief. A moment later the radio crackled and a priority one transmission came over it. Scarecrow; apparently attempting to infect about a thousand people at a concert in Symphony Hall with her fear toxin. "Nightwing is already on the way, but she's requesting backup," Bella told him.

"What's her name?" Bruce asked suddenly, realising he had no idea.

"Rachael."

"And Oracle?"

"Benjamin Gordon."

He nodded.

It took them no longer than seven minutes to get there, and Bella screeched to a stop outside Symphony Hall, engaging the car's security systems once they were both out. That was all she had time for, since the GCPD weren't there yet, but a few dozen of Scarecrows goons were, and they all had Uzis. The Bats acted in unison, getting out their grappling hooks and shooting upward into the shadows. Predictably, the bullets tracked them into the darkness, but wouldn't hit either of them. Bruce was already swinging down again to kick three of them off their feet and land on another one. Another came up behind him in an attempt to strangle him; Bruce grabbed his forearm and performed a simple throw.

Bella was a few feet away, also going through lackey's at a rate of about three a second. Suddenly there was a flash of blue and black, and the man in front of Bella collapsed without a sound. Nightwing fought just as Dick did – the two Bats moved fluidly, but that was born of decades of training and body-conditioning, whereas Nightwing had been raised as an acrobat from birth, and it showed in the almost feline motion that was being demonstrated now.

There were more than thirty of Scarecrow's guards preventing them from getting inside the Hall, and between Batman, Batwoman and Nightwing, they last no more than thirty seconds. The last one got lucky, and managed to knock Rachael off her feet. A millisecond before Bella took him down.

"You took your time," she commented, striding over to offer a hand up to Nightwing.

The girl grabbed her hand and let herself be hauled to her feet with a groan. "Yeah, nice to see you too, Bella." She looked over her adoptive-mother's shoulder with widened eyes at Bruce. "And…who is this?"

"Explanations later," Batwoman replied. "Scarecrow still needs to be stopped."

"Yeah," her daughter replied. "My best guess would be she'll put the toxin into the air conditioning system."

"In that case she's probably already done so," Bella replied. Sirens could be heard now, _whooping _faintly in the distance. She turned to Bruce. "Stay out here and liaise with the police while we get Scarecrow."

He nodded, and the two women disappeared into building. A few seconds later, several squad cars arrived, Commissioner Gordon one of the first on the scene. It was unnerving, talking to a woman who should be dead. Apparently it was as unnerving for her, since she approached him warily after giving orders to the cops to take the unconscious criminals into custody. "And you would be who?" she asked. "Batman I suppose?"

"Yes. Batwoman is already inside dealing with Scarecrow," he answered succinctly. "You need to set up a perimeter covering all the exits from the building – the toxin has likely already been distributed, and you're going to have a thousand very scared people to deal with."

Sarah Gordon nodded. "Right." She turned to her subordinates and issued the orders. Bruce was already gone when she turned back. "Yep," she said softly. "He's definitely a Bat."

---

It turned out that Scarecrow had indeed got the toxin into the air conditioning – but since it was the eighteenth of December, the air con wasn't turned on. After Bella had handed the villain over to the police, the two Bats and Nightwing had an impromptu conference on top of Symphony Hall. Bella gave Rachael the brief outline of who Bruce was and why he was there. The girl nodded. "Alright. I thought for a minute you might be Damien," she told him. "But close to your jaw line isn't the same, though your build is quite similar." She looked back at Bella. "Right, now that you're back I should return to Bludhaven."

"Actually, could you stick around for a few days?" Bella asked. "It's possible I'll need to be away from Gotham for another few nights."

Rachael considered. "I do have some vacation time stored up," she finally said. "Alright."

"You're staying with Oracle?"

"Yeah."

"Alright. I'll contact you if there's anything else." In a brief and rare show of affection, Bella clasped her adoptive-daughter's shoulder. "Thank you."

Nightwing smiled. "No problem."

"Go home, get some rest."

The three of them went their separate ways after that, with Nightwing returning to Oracle's apartment while Bella and Bruce split up, agreeing to meet up at the Batwing again at three am. It suited him best anyway – if he was working with someone then he had to be in tune with their movements, and tonight he wanted to think about other things. Like Diana.

Her words had been simple, yet the mix of feelings and thoughts they stirred up was infinitely complicated. He hadn't investigated them before, mainly because it would be too dangerous to do so, but not he faced a stark choice – either think about them, or lose her forever. Was it possible he'd relied on her… _Her what? _an inner voice asked scornfully. _Her pining over me forever? That's more than pathetic. _It was ridiculous too – she was Wonder Woman for God's sake; millions of men all over the world pined over _her_.

One thing was clear – he obviously did not want her dating King Faraday. Or anyone else for that matter, but that led to _him _dating her, and the reasons still stood. But going to Diana and saying 'I don't want you, but no one else can have you either' was likely to get him knocked through several walls. It was spectacularly unfair, and not at all what Diana deserved. But it all boiled down to that, really.

Could he give Diana what she deserved?

And the answer to that was simple. No. He couldn't. He could love her, it was all too easy to do that, but he couldn't give her every part of himself. Not until after Batman anyway. Would she wait that long?

With a groan, he realised that the only person who could answer that was Diana. They were going to have to finish that talk they'd started on the rooftop – the talk he'd been avoiding for three years now.

The sound of bells ringing across the city disturbed his thoughts – three am. It was time to get back to the manor. At least Diana would be asleep, hopefully, so he could spend what would probably by a sleepless night thinking about what he was going to say to her.

He was silent on the way back to the Batcave, lapsing back into his brooding. Once back in the manor, Bella said goodnight and headed up the stairs. He was about to follow when the drawing room door was opened with a flash of green light, and John came through it, carrying a sleeping Shayera in his arms. "She and Diana fell asleep playing chess," he informed Bruce in a whisper. "Diana's still in there. Can you…?"

Bruce nodded, and opened the door to the drawing room.

For ten seconds, he stood there, stunned into immobility by the image that greeted him. Diana was curled up on one of the couches, her hand by her face in an absurdly childlike pose, illuminated only by the firelight. Suddenly he wasn't in a parallel world – this was _his_ house, and he'd just come back from patrol to find _his _Diana asleep, waiting for him. It was a picture that he'd seen far too many times in his dreams. Sometimes he woke up wishing to have had the nightmares – they were so much easier to deal with.

Finally able to make his legs work again, he moved silently into the room. She was so beautiful. He noted the positions of the pieces on the chessboard, and chuckled quietly. "Beautiful and smart."

Moving gently, he lifted the still-sleeping princess into his arms, and left the room. She stirred slightly as they entered the cooler hallway. "…Bruce?"

"I'm taking you to bed," he murmured back. "Go back to sleep, Princess."

She mumbled something incomprehensible and burrowed her face into his chest. He closed his eyes momentarily. Did she have any idea how difficult she was making this? _She's Diana, of course she doesn't. _After what seemed like an interminable period, he located her bedroom and laid her gently down on the bed. She opened her eyes again, heavy with sleep. Bruce knelt at the beside, ostensibly to fold the comforter over her, but mainly because the way she was looking at him left his knees weak. "You confuse me, you know…?" she murmured.

He kissed her forehead. "Yeah. I know."

Knowing there was no chance in Hell of him getting any sleep now, Bruce left Diana's bedroom and went down to the Cave, and whittled away the hours to dawn in the gym. Once the computer clock was telling him it was eight am, he showered and went back upstairs. He found Bella in the kitchen, a cup of black coffee in her hand and munching on toast, the _Gazette _spread open in front of her. Wordlessly, she poured him a cup and pushed it across the table. He nodded toward hers. "Should you be drinking that?"

"Just try and stop me," she said absently, handing him the science and technology section.

The two billionaires read in silence for a while before the sound of a woman's throat clearing interrupted them. Bella looked over the top of her paper. "Winifred?"

"If I might draw your attention to today's date, madam?"

Bella frowned and checked the front page. "The nineteenth of December? What's so important about th-" She cut off, her eyes widening. "Oh shit."

---

**A/N: Ha ha the cliffhanger strikes again! Review please! **


	9. Legacy

**A/N: Ok...so I may have lied when I said that this chapter was gonna be a while...But my fingers just went on a frenzy when I wasn't looking I think. Anyway, enjoy!**

**Chapter Nine - Legacy**

"Winifred, is everything ready?"

"Yes, Mistress Bella, unless you wish me to cancel."

"No, no don't cancel, we can't afford to," Bella said, putting her coffee down and leaving the kitchen in a hurry. Frowning in puzzlement, Bruce followed her out into the hallway, to see Damien coming down the stairs.

"Bella?" he asked at the harried expression on his wife's face. "Is everything alright? The baby-"

"Baby's fine," she said quickly, "but, Damien – it's the nineteenth of December."

He blinked. "Already? Zeus."

"Yes. Where are the others, do you know?"

"Diana and Clark were in the games room with Wally last time I checked."

She nodded. "Ok, could you two find John and Shayera? I'll get the others." Her husband nodded, and Bella headed up the stairs. "You could have told me, you know," she added over her shoulder to Bruce.

"What-?"

"Bruce, any ideas where they might be?" Damien interrupted, obviously not listening.

Bruce thought, then nodded. "Clifftop. At least that's where Shayera will be."

Damien nodded. "Right. I'll look for John if you could go and find her?"

"But what-?"

The Amazon was gone before Bruce had time to finish his question. Still frowning, he went outside looking for Shayera. The wind on the clifftop was salty and bracing from the sea, and utterly freezing. It didn't take him long to spot the Thanagarian – but unfortunately she was at sea-level, skimming the waves along with the petrels and the sea gulls. Between the wind and the sounds of the ocean she'd never hear him, but he knew that as a detective she'd be constantly on the lookout, so it wouldn't be long till she saw him.

No more than a minute later, the redhead alighted in front of him. "Why are men so complicated?" she asked without preamble.

He blinked. "What?"

"Men. _Why _do you have to turn something completely simple into the most difficult thing in the world?"

"Is this a trick question?"

"No!" she exclaimed, folding her arms. "I really want to know. Why does _everything _require thinking time? What's wrong with just doing what makes you happy? Why can't you see what's right in front of your noses? Why can't you for once accept-"

"Shayera, I think this is something you should be speaking to John about," he interrupted, not entirely sure she wasn't playing her part as Diana's friend by interrogating him.

His first guess seemed to be accurate though, judging by the blotches of colour that had appeared high on her cheekbones. He took a surreptitious pace backward, though it didn't look like she had her mace on her. An angry Thanagarian was not to be taken lightly.

"You don't think I've _tried _talking to John?" she demanded. "If the man stood still for five minutes maybe I'd be able to, but apparently I'm wearing some sort of Green-Lantern-repelling perfume!"

"Shayera, I think you should calm down."

"I think I should tear John a new-"

He turned the Bat on this time. "Hawkgirl!"

She stopped, and he let his facial features soften. "Sorry," she muttered finally. "It's just…" She looked away and took a deep breath. "Did John tell you that he broke up with Mari?"

Bruce raised an eyebrow. This was news to him, but then there really was no particular reason he should have known. "No."

"Well…actually Mari broke up with him. Apparently John's been…whispering my name in his sleep. She told me."

"And you confronted him?"

She shook her head. "No. He came to pre-empt me." She turned around and let out a laugh that indicated she was anything but amused. "He told me that he loves me, but that he still wasn't prepared to be a puppet of Fate." She turned back to Bruce. "I mean, what am I supposed to do with that? What am I supposed to say?"

He said nothing. She had a point. Didn't mean he was going to offer advice on someone else's love-life though.

"He's basically consigned us both to being unhappy forever," she said quietly. "I love him, he loves me, but since it might be what Fate has designed for us, that doesn't matter. How is that fair, Bruce?"

It wasn't. Personally he didn't believe in fate, or destiny, or whatever name was used. People were the consequences of their own decisions; nothing more, and nothing less. But knowing John, there was little either he or Shayera could do to persuade him of that.

Apparently it had been a rhetorical question, since Shayera sighed and shook her head. "What did you come out here for?" she asked. "Can't imagine it was to listen to me pour my heart out."

"Bella's calling a conference," he said, motioning back toward the house.

She nodded and fell into step beside him. "Thanks," she offered after a while.

He said nothing, and presently they were back in the manor. Inside the kitchen the others were waiting. Shayera sat down while Bruce stood next to Clark, and Damien spoke.

"Right, sorry about this, but something important is happening tomorrow."

"What?" Diana asked, frowning.

"Twentieth of December," Bella sighed, looking at Bruce as if he was supposed to know why that date was significant. When he continued to look nonplussed, Bella shook her head slightly. "The Christmas ball? It's tomorrow."

"What Christmas ball?"

She frowned. "The Wayne Christmas Ball. The same Christmas ball that the Wayne family have held for the past five generations."

Comprehension flickered across his face, and he folded his arms, turning away. There was silence for three seconds. And then Bella moved, striding to face Bruce and looking into his face, searching for something. Apparently she didn't find what she was looking for. She turned away for less than a fraction of a second, her fists curled.

Damien took a step toward his wife. "Bella-"

Heedless to him, she spun around again, and punched Bruce as hard as she could. He staggered backward. It wasn't quite like being punched by Clark or Diana, but it was close. "How dare you?" she demanded, low and quiet, her voice shaking. Without another word, she turned and ran from the room.

Damien took a step after her, but Bruce stopped him. "No. I'll go."

He stopped and glared, but nodded once. "Then hurry up about it," he said curtly.

Bruce left, and Diana moved toward her counterpart. "I don't understand," she said. "What just happened?"

Damien shook his head. "I assume one thing that hasn't changed is that Bruce's parents are dead?"

She nodded. "It's why he became Batman. But he doesn't like to talk about it. Doesn't like being…reminded of them. Doesn't like anything that reminds him that he was once happy, I think."

He nodded. "I always used to think that about Bella. But one thing she never changed was the Wayne Christmas Ball. She's always held it – just that one thing, once a year, to honour them. For the city to honour them. And Bruce never…?"

"No," she said, shaking her head. "Stubborn…foolish man…"

---

Bruce found her where he knew he would, standing in the drawing room looking at the portrait of her parents. His parents. No, they were her parents. In this world, hers alone. "You need to cancel," he said flatly in the tone of the Bat.

"The hell I do."

"Don't be absurd. There are more important things to do at the moment than throw a party. You know that."

"It's not just a party," she replied. "And cancelling it will raise more eyebrows than I can afford. The whole world is watching Damien like a hawk at the moment. If I cancel they'll assume it's because I can't trust him around Wayne's friends. Added to which, I wouldn't cancel even if that were the case. This is for Mom and Dad. It's always been for them." She shook her head and turned to him with a little incredulous laugh. "I can't believe you don't have it. It's like destroying everything they stood for-"

"I am Batman because of what they stood for!" he interrupted heatedly.

"Batman is only half of who you are!" she spat back. "Mom and Dad didn't give birth to _Batwoman_, they gave birth to me, and _as their child _I have to honour them, just as you should!"

"I honour them every single day-"

"How?" she demanded. "By trying to erase the fact that they ever existed?! Thomas and Martha Wayne are more than just their _deaths_! What kind of legacy have they left in your world? Apart from _Batman_?"

He didn't say anything, mainly because she had a point. Apart from Batman…the rest of the world knew Bruce Wayne as an arrogant, shallow playboy who would have been an utter disappointment to the good people his parents were. He'd become Batman because of them, and that took up so much of his life now…maybe too much. Maybe by being so dominant, Batman wasn't _enough_.

Bella crossed her arms and took a deep breath. "I don't care what you do in your life. But in mine I honour my parents, I'm not afraid to be with the person I love and I am more than Batwoman. And I will not cancel the Christmas Ball. You can brood in the Cave if you want; I don't give a shit."

For the second time that day, Bella left the room. This time, he didn't follow her.

---

Diana watched the door just as Damien was doing; somewhat warily, especially after they'd all heard the yelling – though not the words. Winifred was totally calm, only handing out iced mochas to everyone with an air that was completely unruffled.

When the door opened again, they all flinched. Bella didn't notice. "Everything alright?" Damien asked, looking as though he was quite prepared to go and punch Bruce if it wasn't.

Bella nodded. "It's fine."

"So what do we do now?" Diana asked.

"Now?" she asked, hoisting a grin onto her face and pulling out her cell phone. "Now we go shopping." She opened the phone and held down on of the buttons, then put it to her ear. After a moment, the person on the other end picked up. "Donatello! It's Bella – listen, darling, I need a favour. I _know _it's late notice and you must _hate _me for doing this to you, but I woke up this morning and I simply detested my dress for tomorrow, but then I remembered you're out of town-"

There was the indistinct voice of a man on the other end.

"Oh, and I have some last-minute guests arriving, and they need gowns too. I just don't see how I'm going to avoid spending an obscene amount of money at Gucci, but if you're already in New York I guess I don't have a choice…" She trailed off with a somewhat dramatic sigh and winked at Diana, who was standing open-mouthed at this verbal manipulation. "Oh you would? Donatello, I would be forever in your debt! Marry me!" She let out a tinkering laugh that sounded quite genuine. "Well I won't tell him if you don't. So about eight then? Wonderful. Alright then. Ciao, darling."

She closed the phone with a sigh and dropped the act. "Right. Versace will close for us, but you also need jewellery, so we should get going. Swarovski awaits."

---

**A/N: Review please!**


	10. Sense Has No Bearing On The Situation

**A/N: Enjoy! **

**Chapter Ten - Sense Has No Bearing On The Situation**

_Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrring! Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrring! Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrring!_

Most unwillingly, Rachael Grayson began a long, sleepy uphill struggle toward consciousness. "Urgh...."

_Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrring! Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrring! _

She groped around on the nightstand for her cell phone, her hand meeting nothing but the empty wooden surface. "I swear to God if that's Bella..."

_Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrring! Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrring! _

"Ben! Ben!"

"Mmmmm?"

"Where's the hell's my phone?"

"...jeans pocket?"

"Where the hell are my jeans?"

"...dunno..."

Rachael whapped the man beside her on the chest lightly. "Well you were the one taking them off last night!"

Ben thought for a second. "...kitchen sink."

_Brrrrrrrrrrrrring! Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrring! _

She got out of bed and sprinted through the apartment to the kitchen, then fumbled around in her jeans pocket to locate her phone. The rings sounded as though they were getting more desperate with each one.

_Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrring! Brrrrrrrrrrrrr-_

"Grayson."

"Twenty seven seconds response time? Unacceptable."

Rachael rolled her eyes. "It's the middle of the day, Bella."

"The Joker wouldn't care what time it was," Batwoman shot back.

"If it was an emergency you would have used my com-link," Rachael pointed out. "Now, any particular reason you're phoning me on my _vacation_ at _eight am_?!"

"Yeah. We're going shopping."

"Shopping?"

"Ball. Tomorrow night."

"Yeah, I know when the ball is, Bella-"

"Great. You have nine minutes to get dressed."

"But-"

"It's a ball, you need a dress," Bella said as if her surrogate-daughter were stupid.

"I have a dress," Rachael replied.

"Are you passing on Versace?"

There was a pause. "Versace?"

"Didn't think so. We'll be there in seven minutes." There was the click of a dial tone.

Rachael sighed. She really didn't want Bella to be right - yeah, sometimes it was good to have an insanely rich parent, but that didn't mean she liked accepting handouts. But... She moved back into the bedroom and opened the wardrobe door. Her dress was one she'd worn before - it was short, black and fitted. It looked good, it was functional. It wasn't Versace.

"Better have a shower then..." she sighed.

Bella had trained her well; within seven point three minutes, Rachael was out of the shower, dressed and kissing Ben goodbye. Ben was doing his best to make her forget about Versace. She giggled. "Ben...I have to go..."

"Uhuh..."

"Ben..."

The front door bell rang. She gave him one last peck, and moved toward the front door, opening it. On the other side, leaning up against the doorjamb and the picture of the idle rich was Bella. She was dressed impeccably in a designer outfit that Rachael was sure cost more than she made in a year.

"Ready?"

"Yes. Come on, Diana and Shayera are in the car."

"Diana and- Oh, right, you mean Wonder Wom-" She cut off as the Batglare made an appearance. "Diana and Shayera, got it."

"How's Ben?" Bella asked as they walked down to the elevator.

"Fine. Moaning that he needs a DAB radio instead of an analogue one. Or...something like that."

Bella nodded, then smirked. "I'll see what I can do."

Ben didn't live in the worst area of Gotham, but he didn't live in the type of area to bring a Bentley into either. Of course this was Bella Wayne, so the Bentley was obligatory. As was the BW1 numberplate. The two women got into the spacious back and settled themselves in. Rachael found herself confronted with one woman who frankly looked like an angel and another who was the most beautiful woman in all creation.

"Diana, Shayera, this is Rachael Grayson - Nightwing."

They shook hands with friendly smiles. "It's wonderful to meet you, Rachael," Diana said.

She smiled. "Likewise."

"Still seems awfully early to be up," Shayera commented, sipping at a Starbucks cup.

"Well Versace had a certain appeal, even at eight am," she commented dryly.

"Uh, speaking of, Bella," Shayera began. "How...?" She flapped her wings for emphasis.

Bella opened her purse and pulled out what looked like an ordinary metal bracelet, if a little chunky. She beckoned, and fixed it around Shayera's wrist when she extended it. It glowed blue briefly and then faded. Shayera didn't feel anything. "And what was that supposed-"

"Great Hera!"

"What?!" she exclaimed, turning to Diana.

"Shayera- your wings!"

"What about them?" she asked, twisting around to look at them- They weren't there. Fighting panic, she reached over her shoulder, and relaxed when her fingers met feathers. There, but invisible. She blinked, then turned to Bella. "What did you do?"

"It's a device I created using technology from Damien's jet, to enable Hro to go out in public without being recognised as a Thangarian. There's still a lot of resentment left over from the invasion."

Shayera nodded. "Yeah. Our world too." She hardly went out in public anymore, but felt like she deserved whatever she got if she did. Still...it was a lonely way to live, cut off from the world.

"How does it work?" Diana asked. "I can't imagine letting Bruce take _my _plane apart."

Bella grinned. "No, it did take quite a bit of...persuasion." She sat forward and sobered. "In basic terms it generates low-level kinetic energy, enough to enable your wings to vibrate faster than the visible spectrum."

The others looked at one another. "...that was basic?"

"It's making your wings move slightly, but too fast to see. Like moving your hand in front of your face as fast as you can; temporarily it almost seems to disappear. Same principle, only the movement is faster."

"So they're still there?"

"Yes. But, like Diana's jet, they're invisible. Just be careful to choose a backless dress when we get to the store," she warned. She moved toward the front of the car and tapped the window. "Winifred, did you remember the-"

"In the cabinet next to the drinks, Mistress Bella."

"Thank you."

She opened it, and pulled out a packet of saltines. Diana raised an eyebrow. Eating dry crackers didn't really appeal to her, but then there was no accounting for taste. It apparently meant something else to Rachael, since she gasped. "Bella, are you-"

The car slowed before she could complete the question. "We're here, ladies."

They got out into the part of Gotham that definitely fitted the image of the Bentley. All the shops carried famous names, and all the cars cost in excess of fifty grand easy. The doorman of Versace opened the door with a smile and a nod. "Good to see you again, Mrs Wayne."

Bella rewarded him with a dazzling grin, then led the others inside. They were greeted by an Italian man, also grinning broadly. "Ciao, Bella!"

"Donatello!"

They embraced, air-kissing and chatting in Italian for a few moments before he pulled away. "Bella, you must introduce me to your _divine _companions."

"Well you and Rachael have met, but this is Diana and Shayera."

Being a fashion designer, Donatello couldn't help but look twice at Diana - in fact he basically bypassed Shayera altogether. She was a beautiful woman, but she didn't have a figure that could put every supermodel on Earth to shame. Diana didn't really mind all that much - it wasn't the same perusal of her body that a lot of men gave her. She felt more as though he pictured her as a particularly well-crafted frame on which to hang clothes.

Bella allowed him about two minutes of fawning over Diana before she interrupted. "Don't you think this colour would look fabulous on you, Diana?" she said loudly.

Grateful to her, Diana detached herself from Donatello and went over to Bella. She was smirking slightly - which probably had something to do with the vomit-orange colour of the dress. Still, it had done its job; Donatello had now switched his attention onto Shayera.

---

"So..." Flash began. "How long are they likely to be, anyway?" He still sounded disappointed about not being able to go with the girls. Though no one knew why he expected to be allowed to watch model-esque women try on various clothes.

Damien shrugged. "You know as much as I do, Flash."

"Well how long was Bella gone on her last shopping trip?"

"Three days."

"Three _days_?"

"We were in Paris," he said, sounding unconcerned.

"Well what are we supposed to wear?" Wally asked. "It's not like I brought a tux with me."

"I have plenty; you're borrowing."

"Diana and Shayera didn't have to borrow," Wally complained quietly. He shut up after receiving five glares.

The doorbell rang, and Flash disappeared momentarily to answer it.

A few moments later, a man wearing an echo of the blue suit that Amanda Waller always did entered with the Speedster. "Apparently I'm a little early for the party," he said.

Damien stepped closer. "Waller. What do you want?"

He looked over Damien's shoulder at the others with a raised eyebrow. "Maybe we should discuss this somewhere more private?"

"Anything you have to say to me you can say in front of them," Damien replied, folding his arms.

"Where's your wife?" Waller sneered.

Damien matched his scorn. "Shopping."

Waller nodded, as if he'd expected nothing less, then motioned with his head at the others. "So you found yourselves a replacement League?"

"We're on loan," Clark said, also standing up and echoing Damien's stance.

"Well you didn't hang around."

Damien raised an eyebrow. "Did you expect us to?"

"I suppose I would have been disappointed if you had."

The Amazon took a step forward. "Waller. What. Do. You. Want?"

Waller produced an A4 photograph and handed it to him. "The Hubble took this at 2:56 this morning. Look at the lower left hand corner. See anything?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary." He passed the photo to Bruce, who confirmed that there was nothing there to warrant closer inspection.

Waller pulled out another photo, an enlargement of the first. This time, one star was not as it seemed. It was emerald green.

"Lantern?" Damien questioned, looking at Waller.

He nodded. "We think so. She must have acquired a new ring from somewhere, and the League have just entered our galaxy. They're about four days away."

"We'll deal with it," Damien said, handing the photo to Bruce and then re-folding his massive arms. "There's the door."

Waller smirked, but left, Wally following to make sure that he didn't stop along the way. There was no way he could have known where the Cave was, but still, there was no point in taking chances. It was Waller, after all.

Once he was gone, Damien turned to John. "Could she have gotten another one?"

John shrugged. "It's possible. There's no way she would have gotten it legitimately, but she could have stolen it from another Green Lantern."

"So Kyra's back up to full strength..."

"No," John continued. "The rings are tailored to each wielder. If it is another Lantern's ring, then it'll work, but not well."

Damien nodded thoughtfully. "Alright. It still complicates things."

"What's the plan, anyway?" Clark asked.

"It's still evolving," Damien answered. "But since we have yet to uncover what triggered the shift in their behaviour...it's hard to know where to start."

"We need Luthor to talk," Bruce said.

"She's on the guestlist for tomorrow evening," the prince said. "So we'll see if we can get anything out of her then; if not then it's back to breaking into LexCorp and seeing what we can dig up."

Bruce nodded - it seemed like a very rough, unrefined plan, but Damien was right; there was no way they could plan how to stop the League until they knew exactly what they were dealing with. "And if worse comes to worst?"

"Then we do what we have to," Damien replied.

---

Diana hated to admit it...but this was fun. She hadn't expected it to be, but like partying with Audrey, it was surprisingly enjoyable. They'd been in Versace for two hours so far, and she'd narrowed it down to a shortlist of six gowns. Everyone else had their dresses: Shayera a pale gold dress that she was certain was going to strip the breath from John's lungs; Rachael in dark blue, Bella in a forest-green silk creation.

Diana couldn't decide. It wasn't like her - she was a very decisive woman, and here she was, unable to make a decision. But they were all so beautiful.

"Ok," Shayera said, getting up from the plush sofa and moving over to the six dresses she had. "Right: no, no, no and no."

Diana blinked. "What? Why not them?"

She held up the first one. "This one is baby pink," she pointed out. "This one looks like a meringue." That one joined the first. "This one is too similar to mine - and you'd make it look better than I would," she smirked. "And this one...frankly I think you'd be falling out of it," she finished, gesturing to Diana's chest.

Diana blinked, then looked down at her own cleavage. Shayera may have a point. "Well then that only leaves these two."

Of the two left, one was scarlet; the other a rich, deep purple. And Diana could picture herself in both of them. She could picture herself, if she was honest, being in both of them and watching with supreme satisfaction as Bruce's jaw dropped.

Rachael put her hand up. "I vote for purple."

Bella nodded. "Agreed."

Diana pursed her lips. "I'll try it on again."

A few minutes later, she drew back the curtain from the dressing room, dressed in the gown. Rachael and Shayera were both grinning widely, Bella was looking slightly pained.

"Are you sure about this?" Diana asked, twirling a bit to look at the back. "It's a little…"

"Trust me, Diana, you look beautiful," Rachel soothed. "And you-know-who will _definitely _love it." She obviously assumed that since Bella and Damien were together, Diana and Bruce would be too.

Diana coloured slightly, but didn't say anything to refute the idea that she had been hoping Bruce would like it. "Do you think so?"

Bella averted her gaze. "Diana, could you go change now? _I'm _having trouble keeping my eyes off you."

---

Once the dresses and jewellery was bought, they dropped Rachael back off at Ben's and then carried on back to the manor, laden with shopping bags. The house was apparently empty, with no sign of the men. "They must be in the Cave," Bella assumed.

"I doubt it," Shayera said, indicated the garage. Bella checked; it was almost empty of supercars.

Bella's mouth fell open. "They took my _Ascari_?!"

Winifred straightened, her arms full of shoe boxes. "And the Aston Martin, and the Maserati, Mistress Bella."

"I'm going to kill him," she growled. She spun around and headed back into the house, walking to the library and then entering the Cave. Smirking at each other, Shayera and Diana followed. They found Batwoman sitting at the computer, accessing the trackers she'd planted in her cars.

"So where are they?" Shayera asked.

"Freeway," Bella said. "Damien, Clark, Wally and John."

"Where's Bruce?" Diana frowned.

"Behind you," Bella said without looking around.

Diana turned around, knowing what she'd see but jumping anyway when Bruce emerged from the shadows. She shot him an annoyed look, which he returned with a smirk. "Princess." He moved past her and to the computers, handing something to Bella. "Waller turned up after you'd left."

"Waller? What did he want?"

"To give us this. The Founders have entered the Milky Way. They'll be back to Earth in four days."

She nodded. "Did John have any insights into how Kyra got another ring?"

"He assumed it was stolen."

"How will you prevent them from causing more destruction when they arrive?" Diana asked.

"Assuming Superwoman is still in charge...it shouldn't be too difficult. I have a feeling I'm going to be target number one on her list."

"Why?"

"One: I have the largest stock of Kryptonite anywhere in the Western hemisphere, possibly the world, and two: I picked at her other weak spot."

"You mean the emotional one?" Bruce asked.

She nodded. "Yeah. I've never seen her so angry."

Bruce nodded. It wasn't often he did it, but sometimes the only way to get Clark to back off was to begin reminding him of the fact that he and Lois had been together once. From the look on her face, Bella didn't like doing it anymore than he did.

"So now what?" Shayera asked.

"I had hoped to go over the plan for tonight - it's only a few hours until midnight on the island where Zatan stored Excalibur. But since certain _teammates _have seen fit to go on a little drag-race, it'll have to wait." She turned back to the computer with a very pissed off air.

"I take it you got your gowns?" Bruce asked Diana.

She nodded. "Yes. I never realised how much fun shopping could be." She headed over toward where the giant penny was. He followed her over. "Bruce?" she asked.

"Yes?"

"Why can't we-"

"They're back," Shayera suddenly announced, looking at one of the screens.

Whatever it was Diana was going to say would have to wait, and he saw a flicker of annoyance cross her face before she turned to go up the stairs. He could guess though. '_Bruce, why can't we make this easy?_' '_Bruce, why can't we just admit to ourselves how we feel about one another?_' '_Bruce, why can't we just have five minutes to talk without getting interrupted?_' There were too many questions that could start with 'Bruce, why can't we-?'

A few minutes later, after a serious dressing-down from Bella on the dangers of borrowing her Ascari without permission, the eight heroes were in the drawing room again, eating the club sandwiches that Winifred had made. "Now, we only have a few hours until the portal to the pocket dimension opens, so we have to come up with a plan," Bella said. "Once we remove the sword, Le Fay should be able to sense it, and he'll come straight to us. We need to be ready."

"How?" Wally asked. "None of us are magic users. If we had Zatanna maybe, but we don't."

"True, but Diana and I are both strong against magic," Damien said. "And if worse comes to worst..."

"Magic always has a price," Bruce finished.

Bella nodded. "As long as he doesn't demand Excalibur, we should be able to negotiate."

"And if he does get the sword?" Clark asked.

"If it looks like he will, you, Damien or Diana need to destroy it."

He nodded. "Shouldn't be hard."

"Where is it anyway?" John asked.

"An uninhabited island on the Tropic of Capricorn," Bella said.

"How do you know it's stayed uninhabited?" Shayera asked.

"Zatan placed an enchantment on the island; unless you know where it is, you can't find it."

"How _Pirates of the Caribbean_," Wally commented.

He was ignored. "We have the Batwing and my jet," Damien said, "but only six of us can fit into them."

"That's ok," Flash said. "Supes and I can follow you, right, big guy?"

 Clark nodded. "I don't see why not."

"In that case we should leave in about four hours," Bella said. "The portal will open at sunset. I need to do a quick systems check of both planes before we leave." She looked at Bruce and raised an eyebrow in question. He nodded.

Apparently taking that as the end of the briefing, Shayera took a leaf out of Diana's book - she stood up and looked at John. "We need to talk."

He looked surprised. "Wh-"

The Thanagarian didn't wait for his response, and only grabbed his hand and dragged him from the room. Bruce found himself silently wishing Lantern luck. He left the room a few seconds later with Bella, heading down to the Cave. Wally and Damien left soon after.

Still in the drawing room, Diana sighed, resting her face in her palms. "Hey," Clark said gently, putting his hand on her back. "You ok?"

Her voice was muffled through her hands. "No."

His arms encircled her shoulders, and his expression was unsmiling, though kind, when she looked at him. "It's Bruce, isn't it?"

She nodded, then relaxed as her best friend hugged her. "Wally once told me that women are viewed as complicated in Man's World. I have never met a woman who is half as complicated as Bruce is."

He chuckled. "That's probably true." They were quiet for a bit, but after a moment he spoke again. "Diana...it's probably none of my business, but...has anything...you know?"

"Happened between us?" she asked. "...that's not an easy question to answer. In the conventional sense, no. We've never been on a date, we've only ever kissed once-"

"What?" he exclaimed. "When was this?"

"During the Thanagarian invasion, it was a ruse to stop us being arrested," she said vaguely. "It wasn't real. But he has told me that he doesn't want me."

"He said that?"

 "Well...no, but yes at the same time."

"That doesn't make sense," he commented.

"It's Bruce," she said simply. "Sense has no bearing on the situation. The point is, with his words he denies that he has feelings for me, but with his deeds...there are times when he looks at me, and I feel like he could love me. Like he does."

Clark smiled and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. "I've known Bruce for a long time. And he does."

"Really?"

"Really. He might not know it himself yet. But he does."

She felt a wave of gratitude towards Clark, and embraced him tightly, in a hug that could have broken ribs with anyone else. "Thank you."

She made to stand up, but he kept hold of her hand for a moment. "That said, Diana, don't lighten up. He needs to know how close he is to losing you."

She nodded. "Maybe."

"Definitely."

---

The systems check didn't take long; only about half an hour running various diagnostic scans and moving through a few simulations before both jets were ready. Bella was checking Damien's jet, since she was more familiar with the technology than he was. Still, the checks on the Batwing didn't take long, and he watched her work for a while, marvelling at the level of sophistication in the jet. When they got back to their world, he'd have to take a closer look at Diana's plane.

"Right," she finally said. "It's done." She looked at the clock. "We have another three hours before we have to leave."

He nodded and headed toward the stairs. "Bruce," Bella called from behind him. He turned, and she gestured with her head to the other end of the Cave. "Spar?"

---

Five minutes later, a scarlet blur flashed into the Cave as Wally looked around for the two Bats. He stopped at the exercise equipment, and stared, bug-eyed through the window into the training room.

Less than three seconds later, he was back in the drawing room, where Diana and Shayera were at opposite ends of the room to Clark, John and Damien. "Batman's fighting Batwoman!" he blurted.

 There was silence and stillness for about half a second, and then there was a scramble for the door. It was a good job Diana could fly, since otherwise she would have broken a leg falling off the stairs when Shayera accidentally shoved her off them. She didn't waste time being annoyed - the opportunity was too good to waste. A few moments later, they were all standing by the observation window of the training room.

There was silence for ten seconds as they all watched the mesmerising dance of two combat masters in action. Then John spoke.

"Twenty bucks says Batwoman kicks Batman's ass."

Diana and Shayera exchanged a smirk. "Fifty."

---

**A/N: Sorry this took me so long! Review please!**


	11. Where Does She Belong?

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed! *clears throat* Ladies and Gentlemen, presenting for one night only, the once-in-a-lifetime spectacle of...Batman versus...himself! (Sorta) Enjoy! **

**Chapter Eleven - Where Does She Belong?**

Diana watched, just like the others, captivated by the fluid movements of the people inside the training room. She was becoming less and less convinced by the second that neither of them were metas. It surely wasn't natural for human beings to be so alarmingly flexible, or to defy gravity like that?

The group drew in its collective breath when Bruce aimed a right hook at Bella - but it was a feint, Diana could see - and apparently so could Bella. Though she moved into the trap, with Bruce's left fist speeding toward her chest, she moved at the last minute, grabbing his gauntlet and using his own momentum against him, yanking it up and over her head. It ended up with her on her back, but Bruce diving head first toward the floor.

Bella flipped to her feet, apparently knowing that Bruce wouldn't be at all slowed down by her actions.

He wasn't. Diana spent so much time actually sparring with Bruce that she couldn't remember the last time she actually got to _watch _him fight. She'd forgotten how _liquid _he was.

Bella was facing him now, and he charged. She blocked, first one fist then the other - but that locked them together, each of them unwilling to relinquish the hold on the other. Then Bella moved, bringing her leg up in an impossible angle to deliver a snap-kick. To avoid her foot, Bruce seemed to go completely boneless, his spine bending backward.

Diana had seen J'onn do things like that, but J'onn was a shapeshifter.

The dominance of the fight ebbed and flowed between them, neither gaining the upper hand for long. At one point, Bruce kicked out at Bella's abdomen, and at Diana's side, Damien took an involuntary step forward. Diana blinking, wondering why he'd done that. For whatever reason it was, he relaxed slightly when Bella twisted, taking the hit on her kidney rather than her stomach. Diana frowned. Doing that had meant she'd lost the opportunity to make a counter-attack - why had she done it?

Apparently Bruce had noticed this to, since he stepped back from Bella and said something. A brief grin flitted across Batwoman's face, and she replied, and they began again.

"What are they saying?" Shayera's voice broke in.

No one answered her; Batman was the only one who could read lips. "Superman?" the redhead asked.

Clark shook his head. "Can't hear either for some reason."

Diana turned to her counterpart. "Why is it sound-proofed?"

He tore his eyes away from his wife long enough to look awkward. "Uh...our sparring sessions can get quite...intense at times. This way we don't...disturb the manor."

Everyone except Wally caught his drift, and didn't ask any further. Flash would have, but he worked it out half-way through his sentence. "Intense? What does-" GL glared meaningfully at him, and Wally's eyebrows shot up. "Oh. _Oh_." He paused. "Ew."

Diana smiled, turning her attention back to the fight. But her attention was no longer as focused as it had been - Damien was right. Though obviously she and Bruce had never gotten quite _that _intense, sometimes their sparring sessions did climb to heights as emotional as they were physical. Each of them faced the same dilemma - the desire to win clashing violently with the desire to let the other have their way with them. Without her powers they were evenly matched, and by mutual (if silent) agreement they alternated who won each time - normally who pinned whom to the wall or floor. Sometimes, once victory had been attained either way, they'd stare at each other for what seemed like hours. Though lately she'd tried hard to keep her thoughts from going in that direction, it was unavoidable now - and her eyes unfocused from the fight in front of her, instead seeing flickering images of sweat dampened black hair, Kevlar, quick heavy breathing, pounding hearts. The surges of lust that she knew they both choked down.

Her reverie didn't end until the others around her gasped. She refocused, just in time to see Bella sweep Bruce off his feet. That wasn't all that surprising, but what was shocking was the blatant anger on Bruce's face.

"Whoa," Flash commented quietly. "Never seen Bats lose it like that..."

Diana shook her head. No. She had never seen Bruce lose his temper in a fight before. Curiosity welled up. What had Bella said to make him do so now?

---

**Ten minutes earlier. **

"Care to make things interesting?"

Bruce raised an eyebrow in question. "What are you suggesting?"

She shrugged. "A small wager."

"The stakes?"

"If you win...I'll stop talking about you and Diana."

He narrowed his eyes. That was getting irritating. "And if you do?"

"Did you ever take her dancing?"

He blinked. He'd been thinking about that more and more often lately. No, he never had taken her up on the offer. Told himself it was because he didn't think she was serious, but when the weeks passed and no dancing was forthcoming, the disappointment in Diana's eyes every time she looked at him was obvious. He considered. More than likely Diana had a dress for the ball that was going to paralyse him into stupidity, so he probably would end up dancing with her. Of course once she was in his arms, whether or not he'd be able to let her go again was a different matter...

"So you want me to take her dancing?"

She nodded. "You do owe it to her."

He returned Bella's nod, then changed topic. "Should you even be sparring anyway in your condition?"

She only smirked. "Afraid you can't take me?"

There was really only one answer to a challenge like that, so he returned the smirk and dropped into a defensive stance. Bella took that as her cue to go on the offensive. She went for a simple punch toward his neck; Bruce grabbed her arm, then the other one when she tried the same thing. It locked them together, and he broke the stalemate by jerking his head forward to collide with the bridge of her nose. It had the intended effect, and she stumbled backward. He took advantage of that, hooking his leg behind her knee and pulling.

Rather than crumpling to the ground, she threw her arms behind her head and moved seamlessly into a backflip until she was a few feet away from him. "Not bad."

"Not done," he replied.

She nodded, and moved again. This time, though, she didn't stay quiet. "Out of curiosity, where does she belong?"

He dropped into a crouch to avoid her kick, tried to sweep her legs out from under her before she leaped over his leg and punched him in the temple. "What?"

"Diana."

"I thought you weren't going to talk about Diana anymore?" he ground out, aiming a flurry of strikes at her chest, all of which she blocked with the same lightning speed.

"That's only if you win," she told him smugly, dodging the last one and then driving her knee into his ribs. "What part of your life does she fit into?"

He grabbed the aforementioned foot and threw her onto the floor. "She's a teammate."

"Really?"

"You sound surprised," he noted.

"I am surprised," she admitted, before flipping them over and moving her fingers toward his neck. "Surprised you think you can lie to me."

He threw her off, leapt to his feet. "Why are you pushing this so much? I thought you didn't give a shit what I did in my life."

"I don't," she affirmed, circling him. "I care about what you do to Diana's."

"Well where does Damien fit into yours?" he asked, actually curious about the answer. She knew damn well what his reasons for keeping Diana at arms' length were, she just ignored them in this world. Before she answered, he wrapped an arm around her neck from behind in a choke-hold she had to break before answering.

She slammed her foot onto his instep and her elbow into his stomach. "Exactly where he should. On the battlefield he's a teammate, nothing more."

"I find that hard to believe," Bruce said sceptically. Diana certainly wasn't just a teammate on the battlefield, and they weren't together. It could only be worse if they were. He kicked out at her stomach, only remembering half-way through she was pregnant and trying to pull it in. He needn't have worried; Bella had already twisted to take the hit on her side instead.

"Off it he's the man I love," she answered with a slight smile. "There's no overlap."

He backed off again, waiting for her to strike and prepared when she did. "And Diana?" she asked. "Which one does she belong to? I've picked the safer option, Bruce."

"Safer?" he repeated scornfully.

Her elbow hit his jaw. "Think about it. The Bat won't let her be anything more in your personal life. And your heart won't let her be just a teammate in the mission. As a result-"

"She belongs to neither," Bruce finished.

"_And _both," she pointed out.

Bruce did something he very, very rarely did in a fight. He lost patience, letting out a roar of frustration. "For God's sake stop it! Just stop! Enough!" To emphasise his words, he moved again, going for a roundhouse kick that in his temper wasn't quick or accurate enough.

Bella sidestepped it easily, then used his momentum and superior strength against him, grabbing his ankle and forcing him to take a step back to avoid overbalancing. She took advantage of the lapse to drop into a crouch, sweeping her leg around and knocking his feet from under him. Bruce immediately rolled to one side, and her next punch impacted into the floor rather than his face.

"Why?" she asked. "Am I making you confront things you'd rather not?"

The truthful answer was 'yes', but rather than verbalise it, Bruce flipped up to his feet while she rolled forward to spring up to hers. For a moment they circled each other – but as she'd already proven, any lull in the sparring and Bella started talking. "The logical thing is to love her."

"So you've just categorised Damien?" he growled.

He charged at the same time she did, only she leapt up at the last second, somersaulting over him. His momentum carried him forward too fast, and by the time he'd stopped, Bella had already hit points on his neck and chest in a very specific order. His arms fell limply to his sides.

"I suppose I have, yes," she agreed. "But that doesn't mean I love him any less. It just means we can both do our jobs and be happy. When was the last time you could claim that?"

Her fingers whipped out again, and sensation returned to his limbs. "And I think that's my win."

She walked over to the door and opened it, looking totally unsurprised to find the others looking sheepishly at her. "Twenty minutes, then we're leaving," she ordered, heading for the shower.

The others all nodded, dispersing now that the fight was over. All except Diana, who was still standing there, looking at Bruce as he came out of the room. He looked back steadily, the question still annoyingly persistent. _Where do you belong, Diana? _

---

**A/N: Review please!**


	12. Not Again

**A/N: Thanks for reviewing! Here's the next chapter! **

**Chapter Twelve - Not Again...**

As soon as Bella had gone into the locker room, Damien had gone after her, anger surging through him. The door was locked, but all he had to do was twist the handle effortlessly, then slam it behind him, forgetting the others. Bella was already in the shower.

Patrolling was one thing - Kevlar would it its job baby or not, but to spar with Bruce when she was _trying _to get him to lose his temper had been extraordinarily dangerous. He paced until he heard the water switch off, then folded his arms and spoke as soon as she was out, not waiting for her to dress.

"What the Hades was that?" he asked.

She raised an eyebrow. "Sparring. We do it all the time."

"Not like that, Bella," he shot back. "Without my powers I'm good, but I'm not as good as Bruce is, and you know that."

She reached for a towel. "What's your point, Prince?"

"My point is it was too dangerous," he said, anger welling up all over again. "My _point _is that you shouldn't have risked it and you know it! Not while you're-"

She seemed to get the message. "What's so different about sparring and patrolling? I still do that every night."

"You know I want you to stop," he replied. It was an argument that they'd had before, and last time neither of them had claimed victory or admitted defeat. He was determined that this time she wasn't going to brush aside his concern. "Even if I didn't, none of the scumbags out there even come close to your level. Bruce does."

"Exactly," she shot back. "To my level. I can take care of myself."

Damien's fist embedded itself into the wall. "I know you can!" he exclaimed. "For the last time, I'm not worried about _you_! You can't keep ignoring the fact that you're putting _our _child's life at risk because you still need to prove yourself!"

Grimacing slightly, he pulled his hand back; bits of crumbled rock came with it, and fell to the floor. Looking back at Bella, she had the Bat's face on. He hated it. It automatically meant 'I'm-Batwoman-and-therefore-right-in-all-situations'. Well not this time. He wasn't backing down.

"I don't have to prove myself, to you or anyone else," she said icily.

"Then _don't_," he emphasised. "If nothing else, then let me patrol with you. Not forever, but soon enough you'll be showing."

"Until I am, I can't afford to be seeing letting a meta help me out. It'll send out the wrong message-"

He folded his arms. "Bella, either you let me, or I come anyway, without your permission if I have to."

She narrowed her eyes. "You wouldn't dare."

"Not Clara," he snapped back. "You can't threaten me. I wouldn't be coming to look after you, I'd be coming to protect my unborn child. It'd make the next eight months a lot more bearable for both of us if you just agree. This isn't about _you_. Stop being so damned selfish."

Her mouth fell open. "Selfish?! I'm not being-"

He moved forward and ripped the towel away from her. She just glared - it was nothing he hadn't seen before, and his expression wasn't angry anymore. Instead he gently pressed one on the small circular scars on her hip. She didn't need to look down. He knew them as well as she did now. Better. That one...she'd been shot, six months into being Batwoman.

Her husband spoke. "And what happens..." His fingers moved to another one; a knife-wound just under her left breast. "...the next time some punk..." Another, bite marks on her shoulder from a very ambitious rotweiller. "...gets lucky?" His hand stopped, his index, middle and ring fingers splayed on her stomach. Each point marked another scar.

She took a deep breath, and finally nodded. He'd made his point. "You're right," she admitted.

This wasn't about skill; it was about luck. And one day her luck would run out - and it could cost her her family. Taking insane risks for herself was fine, but she had no right to do the same at the moment. She carried their child in her womb; she was more than Batwoman now.

She looked up at Damien. "I'm sorry."

He pulled her close, burying his face in her hair. "I know it's hard," he said, relieved. "But I can't lose you. Either of you."

She nodded against his shoulder. "I just...I keep waiting for all these maternal feelings to arrive, and they haven't yet," she confessed. "It's so easy to forget that nothing's changed."

"There's nothing that says you have to form an instant bond the minute you become pregnant," he said gently. "But..."

"But the fact that I'm only human matters now like it never has before," she finished with a wry smile. "I know."

"And you hate that," he nodded.

"Yes," she admitted. "But for now...I'll have to live with it."

He kissed her gently, then hugged her again until she cleared her throat. "Uh, Prince? Still naked."

He laughed and let go. She moved over to where a clean Batsuit waited for her. "You know I can't though. Not now."

He nodded. "I know."

This wasn't an ordinary circumstance. Normally she'd be Batwoman - Gotham took priority and the League came second. But not now. For now they were the only two defenders of this world left. Neither of them could afford to scale back.

---

Twenty minutes later, they were dividing into teams and getting into the two planes. Bella climbed into the pilot's seat of the Batwing, and was a little surprised to find John sitting in the seat behind her. She suspected it was no coincidence that Shayera was already onboard Damien's jet with Diana.

"Problems?" she asked.

GL folded his arms. "No."

She smirked slightly; she knew Kyra well enough to know when something was wrong. "Uh huh."

Before he could reply, she looked over at Superman and Flash, still standing in the Cave. "Head for Easter Island," she told them.

Clark nodded. "Got it." He took off through the tunnel for the Batwing, Flash streaking after him, but using the one for the car. Bella shut the roof of the plane and took off.

"_Right, we'll be right behind you," _Damien's voice sounded in the cockpit. _"Just waiting on Batman." _

"Affirmative. See you there."

In the other jet, Damien watched as the Batwing too off, shooting out of the tunnel and into the Gotham night sky. Shayera was already strapped into one of the seats behind him, the other still waiting for the filled. There was space enough in the small medical bay for one more.

Bruce was still in the Cave, helping himself to a few of Bella's supplies. Diana had decided she needed to go to the bathroom before they left, and hadn't come back yet. "Hey," Shayera said. "Out of curiosity..."

Damien turned to her. "Yeah?"

"When did you and Bella start...?"

"Start?"

"Sleeping together," she said bluntly.

He chuckled. "It wasn't that long after she told me she wanted to be with me." He paused. "How well do you know Bruce, exactly?"

The redhead snorted. "I'm not sure anyone _knows _Bruce. Except maybe Alfred."

"Diana does. I don't think she knows how well, but she does, just as well as I know Bella. And with them..." He sighed. "It's ridiculously hard to get them to open up - but once they do...they're all in. So there was really no point in waiting, or to ask her to prove she was serious about how she felt...just the fact that she was willing to act told me everything I needed to know." He looked around at Shayera. "Why?"

She glanced out of the window down to where Diana could been, talking to Bruce. He had a hand on her arm, and though she was trying to hide the play of feelings across her face, with someone like Diana it was impossible. Shayera felt a tug of sympathy for King Faraday. No one was ever going to replace Bruce, not in Diana's eyes. She may have got tired of waiting, but that didn't mean he wouldn't always be in her heart. For one guilty moment, she found herself thinking that was the way she might be in John's heart.

Or rather, she realised with a bitter chuckle, that was the place he occupied in hers.

"I'm worried about her," she finished finally. "If he does admit that he loves her, then I don't think Diana's capable of being rational about it."

Damien raised an eyebrow. "So you think she'll just...jump into bed with him?"

She shrugged. "Maybe."

He shook his head. "Even if she does...if he loves her then there's nothing to worry about. Like I said, if he's in he's all in. And he'll love her for as long as he lives."

"Yeah..." she agreed softly. _But how will he love her? _she finished silently.

---

Wally shivered as he reached Easter Island. He'd seen them in pictures, but these statue things were really creepy. Superman was stood next to him, watching the Batwing set down gently next to them. In the darkness the huge faces were pretty spooky.

Bella and GL got out of the plane, swiftly followed by a shimmer in the air and a barely discernible hum. In a few seconds, the red of Damien's jet appeared, with other four getting out of it.

"Now what?

Bella pointed. "Moon's about to rise. We have two point four minutes to locate the right statue; each of these is a gateway to a separate pocket dimension."

"Knew there was something weird about these things..." Wally muttered.

"The one that's about to open should be several degrees warmer than the surrounding ones," Bruce said. He pulled out a thermal imaging scanner and moved it around each of the statues, Bella doing the same.

After a minute, they found it, and when Diana touched it, it was like touching a warm body. "Now what?"

"We wait ten more seconds and get the sword. We're not going to give it to Le Fay, in fact we stay as close to the open portal as possible. Once we remove the sword then he should sense it from wherever he is in the world. "

They nodded - and a cloud drifted away from the moon. Suddenly the eyes of the stone face began to glow, silver-white and looking apparently directly at Diana. Bella cursed. "Zatan told me this might happen."

"What?"

"It'll only let someone it judges to be worthy of Excalibur remove it from the portal," she explained. "Looks like it's picked Diana."

The princess raised an eyebrow, but didn't have time for a response. There was a rumbling, grinding sound, and the stone face began to open its mouth slowly, revealing an unearthly green portal. Diana glanced at it, then slowly stepped forward, putting an arm out. She met no resistance, so leaned forward and stepped properly into the pocket dimension. Inside his gauntlets, Bruce's fists clenched.

He needn't have worried; she was back out within thirty seconds, brandishing the sword. She looked incredible - like Athena, ready to take on the entire world alone and win. Damien took an involuntary step forward, then stopped with a visible effort.

"Sorry," he choked out. "It's just...calls to me."

GL looked around the moonlit ground. "Well if it calls to you, then what's it going to do to-"

They all scattered when a burst of magic hit the ground. Morgan Le Fay was suddenly there, releasing bolts of energy in all directions, but mostly at Diana. One struck Excalibur, but Diana only angled it to send the magic back at Le Fay.

The sorcerer did as Wonder Woman had done, and reflected it. It hit Batman and Batwoman, but he didn't stop.

When the two Bats' bodies had shaken off the wracking pain of the magic, none of the other Leaguers were anywhere to be found - nor, thankfully, was Excalibur. Bella leapt to her feet, batarang in hand, but Le Fay put up a hand. "Halt. I do not wish to kill today."

Neither of them relaxed, though the news that none of the others were dead was a huge relief. "Then if they're not dead where are they?" Bruce demanded.

"In the same dimension as the rest of the Justice League," Le Fay answered.

"Alright," Bella said. "Then what do you want?"

"Excalibur, of course."

"Not happening. It's probably already been destroyed."

"In that case you must give me something in return for releasing your friends."

"_And _the others," Bella stipulated.

"Then it had better be something that comes only at great personal sacrifice to you both."

They exchanged a look. "What do you want?"

Le Fay thought for a moment, then looked back up at them.

"Well, if it is good enough for a god…"

"Oh no," Bella muttered. "Not again."

"Would you prefer to let them remain there for all eternity?" the warlock asked.

"No!" she said then sighed. "Fine. I'll sing."

Morgan held up a hand, his mask expressionless but his voice overflowing with vindictive amusement. "Not just you." He looked over at Bruce. "Both of you. A duet. Sing for the people you love."

_Oh for crying out loud. _They looked at one another, trying and failing to think of a way out of it. Finally Bruce spoke. "Whatever," he growled. It wasn't as if he hadn't done it for Diana before. He'd do worse for Diana. Singing was a piece of cake.

**A/N: Review please! Oh, and I have no idea which duet to use, so if you know of any suitably embarrassing ones, please let me know in your review!**


	13. Checkmate

**A/N: I think, since this story is based on one of Kipling Nori's, and since her suggestion made me laugh really hard, the duet that Batman and Batwoman will be singing is...**

**Chapter Thirteen - Checkmate**

This may be the most harrowing moment in Bruce's life thus far.

Singing was bad enough.

But singing _this _song?

It hadn't taken long for Le Fay to magic up a stage, as well as amplifiers and microphones. He could certainly give Circe a run for her money.

After having conjured a glowing throne for himself, Morgan Le Fay settled on it and gestured toward the two Bats. "You may begin."

Bella looked at him with the same stoic expression he knew was on his own face. The 'may as well get it over with' look. The music started. Bruce leaned forward to the microphone and waited for his cue. It didn't take long.

"_Don't go breaking my heart._"

Bella copied his movements, though he had a sneaking suspicion that she was enjoying herself a little tiny bit. "_I couldn't if I tried_."

"_Honey if I get restless-_"

"_-Baby you're not that kind_," Bella sang.

Why, why, _why _did it have to be this song? Anything else - a Disney song, even, that would be better! "_Don't go breaking my heart._"

Damn Le Fay for choosing this song. It may be ridiculous and cheesy, but taken out of context it was all too easy to apply to Diana. Why else would he keep the distance between them? There had been few women he cared about enough to actually fall in love with them. And he'd learnt from them. Love inevitably led to heartbreak, which led to weakness, which couldn't be tolerated. He'd made the decision a long time ago not to fall in love. Of course forming an active relationship was totally different from falling in love accidentally. No grown person fell in love accidentally, for God's sake.

"_You take the weight off of me_."

"_Oh honey when you knock on my door._"

"_Oooh I gave you my key." _

He glanced at Bella as the chorus came up, and knew they were both thinking exactly the same thing. But for Diana and Damien, they would certainly not be doing this. He refocused. _Diana, Diana, Diana..._ "_Woohoo - nobody knows it._"

"_But when I was down." _

"_I was your clown." _

Not surprisingly the mock-joyful expression on her face faded slightly at the word 'clown'. It was a reflexive reaction. Clown meant clown prince (or princess, here), which always came with a wince._ "Hoohoo - nobody knows it."_

"_But right from the start." _

He was right; Bella was enjoying this more than she was letting on. In fairness Bruce himself singing along to the occasional bit of jazz wasn't unheard of, but strictly when he was alone and only then _very _quietly. He had the impression that Bella didn't restrict herself quite so much. His brain prodded him in the direction of why that probably was - Batwoman certainly seemed like a happier person than he was.

"_I gave you my heart. Oh-ho, I gave you my heart," _she sang.

"_So don't go breaking my heart."_

"_I won't go breaking your heart." _

"_Don't go breaking my heart." _

Damn it, they were only one verse and a chorus through the song, and somehow he didn't think that Le Fay was going to let them get away with not finishing the song.

He didn't.

They had to stand there and do the entire thing until with a final '_Nobody knows it_', they were finished. And Bruce was eternally glad that he wore a cowl, because he wasn't sure his red-face would be fading for the next decade. From the slightly pink shade of Bella's jaw-line, she was experiencing the same embarrassment.

As soon as the last note faded, Bella was stepping off the stage and stalking toward Le Fay. "We've done what you wanted. Release the League."

Bruce stepped up slightly behind her. "_Now_."

Le Fay finally nodded.

"A bargain is a bargain." He waved one arm in a wide arc, a glowing trail of magic following behind. The portal opened, and the other founders came through, swiftly followed by this world's Justice League.

"Wow, what did you do?" Flash asked once Morgan transported away.

Batman and Batwoman regarded each other for a second, silently agreeing never to speak of that ever again. "Nothing," they said in unison.

"Is everyone alright?" Bruce asked.

They all nodded, and a very confused looking Olivia Queen spoke up. "Uh, Batwoman? Who are these guys?"

"It's complicated," she answered succinctly, casting a significant, and relieved, look at Wonder Warrior.

He got the hint. "You should come back to the manor," he said. "It's big enough for us all, we'll explain there. The Watchtower's, uh, out of commission at the moment."

"And Bella Wayne isn't going to mind us all invading her house?" Fox asked dubiously.

"It's my house too," Damien said firmly, folding his muscular arms.

Bella turned and strode away, hiding a grin.

It didn't take long for everyone else to disburse, with Dr Fate transporting the majority of them to Wayne Manor, with Clark and Wally going with them. John and Bella had already taken off, and he could see Damien settling into the pilot's seat. Bruce was more concerned with Diana. Though his eyes had found her within seconds of her coming out of the portal, she was lagging behind now.

He moved to her side. "Are you alright?"

She looked up quickly. "Fine," she nodded with a reassuring smile. He didn't miss the fact that she'd tucked her arms behind her back.

He levelled a look at her and held a hand out. "Diana."

Reluctantly, she put her hands in his. There were shallow cuts slicing through her palms on both hands. "How did this happen?" he asked.

"Excalibur," she said. "I managed to destroy it, but...it wasn't as easy as I'd anticipated." She chuckled. "Damn sharp too."

He nodded and pulled out some antiseptic spray from his belt. "This will sting," he warned before spraying it lightly on the wounds. Diana's fingers twitched reflexively but she didn't have any other reaction. Once that was done, he pulled out a sterile bandage and wrapped it tightly around her palms to staunch the bleeding. In a matter of hours there would be no trace of the wounds, but it made him feel better to help anyway. Diana seemed content to humour him as well, since she wasn't pointing out that it was futile.

Once it was done, she smiled and then moved past him.

He wasn't entirely sure what possessed him to stop her again, he just knew that somewhere in between cleansing the cuts and putting the bandages on the decision to had been made. She apparently had no more idea than he did, and only looked questioningly at him. He opened his mouth, felt the pulse jumping in the crease of her elbow. It caused a small wave of relief, apparently encouraging his decision, but a sentence didn't seem forthcoming.

In lieu of words, Bruce leaned forward and stunned Diana with a firm, if brief, kiss on her mouth. When he pulled away, her eyes were wide. "What-?"

He licked his bottom lip slightly nervously; was gratified to see her gaze follow the movement. "It's your answer," he said.

"My answer?"

"I'm fighting." He squeezed her hand and boarded the plane.

---

When they got back to the manor, Batwoman was nowhere to be found, which Bruce had expected, since Wonder Warrior was more than capable of handling the situation. In this scenario he'd be entering as Bruce Wayne any minute now to put the other Leaguers off the scent.

They were gathered in the ballroom, since it was big enough, and Damien was standing in front of the assembled heroes, explaining what had happened since their incarceration.

"So we're going after Luthor, right?" Zatan asked. "Get her to reverse whatever she's done to the founders?"

There was a murmur of assent from the others, but Damien shook his head. "No - we don't know what she's done yet, and we need to know that before we do anything." He looked around. "Go to the Metro Tower, begin monitoring Earth and doing what we've always done. Batwoman, the founders from the other world and I will deal with Superwoman and the others when they return."

"Which will be when?" Dove asked.

"About four days' time. I think that's-"

From outside the room, there was the sound of the front door slamming. Bruce suppressed a smirk. Time for Bella Wayne to make her appearance. A few seconds later, her voice was hear. "Damien?"

The Amazon didn't miss a beat. "In here, Bella!"

She was talking even before the door opened. "Good, because I've had a hell of a day, and you better get your sweet ass in the bedroom right..." She stopped in the doorway, obviously out of the Bat-costume and in a designer business suit. Her face was a picture of shock. "...now and why is my ballroom full of superheroes?"

They were all (with the exception of Zatan), staring back at her in equal shock, mainly at the idea of Wonder Warrior being apparently dominated in the bedroom. "We had no choice, Bella," Damien said. "Not after what happened to the Watchtower."

"So the Justice League just thought it would take over my house?" she spluttered. "You know what, Batwoman's the one who blew the damn thing up, where is she? I want a word!"

"She's not here," Miss Terrific told her.

Bella scowled. "No offence, I like all you guys, but kinda need the ballroom later. Quite an important event if you remember, honey?"

"Yes, I know. We'll be out of here soon," he assured her.

She nodded. "Alright."

Bruce knew what she'd do next, because it was exactly what he'd do if given the opportunity. She walked over to her husband and kissed him fiercely in front of all the assembled Leaguers, totally without shame. It made sense to Bruce. Obviously she couldn't do it as Batwoman, and hadn't, so this was Bella telling him how worried she'd been about him.

She pulled away when they were both breathing heavily, then sauntered to the door. "And Damien? I meant what I said about the bedroom," she winked.

It was Bella Wayne being Bella Wayne - and she did it beautifully.

---

**Later that evening**

"What? But the ball's still hours away! Why do you need to go get ready now?"

Wally, potato chip halfway to his mouth, looked aghast. He was waiting for Tia to finish her homework so that he could, in his words, 'kick Robin's ass at Mario Karts'. That desire, Diana suspected, stemmed from the fact that Tia had kicked his ass fairly solidly the night before.

"They're women, Flash," John said, as if that answered all of life's questions.

All that actually happened was that he was on the receiving end of glares from Diana, Shayera, Bella and Tia. GL backtracked. "Uh, I mean..."

Diana fought the urge to smile. Once the other League members were gone, they'd moved into the drawing room for something to eat and to brainstorm about what was going to happen next. Luthor was a guest at the ball tonight, she hopefully they'd be able to glean something from her. Once they had a basic plan of action, they'd all pretty much drifted off to do their own things around the room. Diana and Bruce were playing chess. And she wasn't doing too badly, even if she did say so herself, considering she couldn't stop grinning every time their eyes met. Just hearing him say that he was fighting for her told her everything she needed to know. It was hard, trying to remind herself that she'd told him he needed to actually _fight_ for her. So far all he'd done was tell her he was intending to. She needed to keep her head about this, despite what her heart (or her loins) might want.

Bruce moved a pawn forward one space. "How are your hands?" he asked softly.

She glanced down at the bandages that were still wrapped around her palms. "I think they've healed now."

He extended his hand. "May I?"

Swallowing, she nodded and willed her heart not to speed up when he took her fingers gently. Moving carefully, he unwrapped the bandage on one hand, then the other before examining her now unblemished skin. He ran his thumbs lightly down the life-lines on her palms, looking up at Diana's quick intake of breath.

"Tickles," she explained quickly. Not quite true. but he didn't need to know that...

He smirked and let go, looking like he knew exactly where her mind now was, and that it definitely wasn't on the game of chess. A point he proved a few seconds later, after Diana had moved her bishop without thinking. Bruce moved his queen once, then looked up to meet her gaze, his dancing. "Checkmate."

Diana's eyebrow's drew together in a frown as she studied the board more closely. She cursed in Ancient Greek when she found he'd made no illegal moves. Bruce raised his eyebrows in mock-shock. "Such language, Princess!"

She pointed her index finger threateningly at him. "Just wait. I'll get you back for that."

His smirk only got wider. "I'm sure you will."

"I'm going to go get dressed," she smiled, following Bella and the others. She knew exactly how she was going to get Bruce back too. It was going to take a while, of course...

It turned out Flash had been wrong; it really did take that long. Getting ready entailed first showering, then blow-drying, then styling of hair, then application of make-up (though Diana skipped most of that step), and only then the putting on of the evening gowns. The arrival of the guests was scheduled for eight pm, and it was five to by the time they were all ready, Shayera just fastening her shoes.

Looking at her friend, Diana wondered how by Olympus John was going to be able to talk once he saw her. The redhead had Bella's bracelet fixed around her wrist, and her wings were invisible. Still, Diana had never seen her look more beautiful. The shimmering gold fabric clung to her every curve without it looking cheap. The soft eye make-up she had made her eyes glow astonishingly green.

"You look beautiful," Diana told her.

Shayera scoffed. "Diana, I could be wearing a sack and next to you no one would notice."

Diana glanced at herself in the full-length mirror. She had to admit, it was a lovely gown. The purple silk went down to the floor, with a slit up to her thigh. It was form-fitting, off the shoulder, exposing her arms and collarbones. Simple, but luxurious. Coupled with the sapphire necklace and earrings that Bella had purchased for her yesterday, Diana thought she looked quite good. Her hair was up, with a few loose ringlets around her face and trailing down the back of her neck.

"Ready?" Bella asked. Her dark green dress was a halter-neck, showing her shoulders and the top of her back without exposing the scars that littered the rest of her body. There was the bite mark on her shoulder, but make-up had more or less covered that.

They all nodded, and there was a knock at the door. Damien poked his head in. "Rachel and Ben are here. Ready to go down?"

His wife took his arm and led the way down the huge staircase. At the bottom, Clark, Wally, John and Bruce were already waiting. As expected, when John say Shayera, his mouth fell open. Diana elbowed her friend gently. "Told you."

Shayera chuckled. "Oh yeah?" She nodded to another figure at the foot of the stairs. "Check him out."

When Diana looked at Bruce, it was with a sly grin. The expression on his face was for once completely unguarded, and it brought only one word to Diana's mind. _Checkmate. _

---

**A/N: I don't own 'Don't Go Breaking My Heart', so don't sue me. Review please! **


	14. Cavemen

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews! Here's the next update, I hope you enjoy.**

**Chapter Fourteen - Cavemen**

_Oh holy God. _How was it possible for _anyone _to look that perfect?

Bruce had several impulses in that moment. The first was to pant uncontrollably like a rabid dog; the second to march Diana straight back upstairs; the third to tweak the pins that held her hair up to send her raven locks tumbling over those creamy shoulders. More, baser, urges followed until it was all he could do not to fall to his knees under the weight of them.

It wasn't until the women got to the bottom of the stairs and Bruce noticed John's expression that he realised he was doing as Lantern was - _really_panting like a rabid dog.

He quickly shut his mouth - not quickly enough if the smug expression on Diana's face was anything to go by. Damn it, now he had to say something. It was easy to fall back into the default playboy mode, so he grinned at her and took her arm. "You look ravishing."

It was the wrong thing to say, however true it might have been. There was half a second when disappointment flashed in her gaze, before she smiled and nodded politely. "Thank you." The warmth in her eyes became more real when she gave him an open, assessing him. "You don't look too far off ravishing yourself."

He smiled and squeezed her hand as they walked into the ballroom. "I mean it, Princess. You're beautiful."

He took the fact that she coloured slightly and looked away as a good sign. The group moved into the ballroom and collected glasses of the finest champagne from the tray that Winifred carried. Within moments, the first of Gotham's elite were arriving.

"If you'll excuse me, I have to go play charming hostess extraordinaire," Bella said, moving away to greet her guests.

Clark watched her smile and flatter her way effortlessly around the room, then looked at Bruce. "So this is what you do," he said, his smirk saying clearly that he didn't think it was all that difficult.

Bruce glowered. "It's harder than it looks."

The smirk got wider. "I'm sure it is."

Wally's mouth twisted at the traditional waltzes the small orchestra Bella had hired was playing. "Music could do with some updating though."

"It's a ball, West, not a damn disco."

"Still," Wally said. "Might be the test to see if some of these stiffs really are dead."

Bruce ignored his muttering while Clark smiled. It was true that some of them really did look as though they were being propped up by the arm-candy they'd brought with them. Still, Bella was doing well swanning around the-

Suddenly Bruce shifted a step closer to him. "That's Luthor," he muttered, indicating the woman who'd just come in with his champagne glass. How Bruce could tell he had no idea, but then he wasn't Batman for nothing. Superman narrowed his eyes as Bella moved forward with a blinding grin on her face to greet Luthor. He knew it was an act, but it still rankled.

---

Bella kissed her former schoolmate on the cheek and drew back, still smiling. Luthor narrowed her eyes appraisingly. "You're looked very happy about something, Bella," she noted.

Bella took a sip of her champagne. "Mmm - I do find hostile take-overs relaxing," she agreed.

Lex's eyebrow rose. "Mercha Shipping finally gave in, did they?"

"Darling, they collapsed," Bella said with a tinkering laugh. In truth, Wayne Enterprises had just taken over Mercha Shipping, but only in name. They were actually intending to expand the business and employ more people. "But you're looking rather smug yourself, Lex," she said. "Wouldn't have anything to do with a certain superhero's disappearance would it?"

Luthor narrowed her eyes suspiciously, but Bella wasn't concerned, and kept her expression callously amused. "Why do you say that?"

She snorted and took another sip of her champagne. "Lexie, your distaste for the woman is hardly a secret." She assumed it was the same in Bruce's world, but here Luthor fought against Superwoman ostensibly because the Kryptonian was a threat to global security.

"Ah." The frown on her face smoothed out as she swallowed more alcohol. "I suppose it is true that vindication tastes almost as good as your champagne, Bella."

"Almost," Bella smirked.

Lex returned the smirk and raised her glass. "To Superwoman. For proving me right."

If Bella eyes turned the exact same shade as a glacier, Luthor didn't notice. If her voice promised that she was going to find a way to bring LexCorp to the ground if it killed her, then the warning went unheeded. Instead Bella simply smiled and clinked her glass against Lex's. "To Superwoman."

The two women drank, and then Bella decided she probably shouldn't spend any more time with Luthor tonight - the urge to strangle her was already almost overwhelming. "If you'll excuse me, darling, I'm neglecting my other guests. But don't go away just yet."

Lex's smile was calculating as she looked over Bella's shoulder. Bella knew exactly what - or rather _who _she was looking at, and she clenched her teeth at the hunter emerging on Lex's face. "Wouldn't dream of it."

A few moments later, she tapped Bruce on the shoulder with a jerk of her head toward the dancefloor. "Dance?" she sighed, needing a break from the socialites.

He nodded, and they moved to where all the other couples were.

"Have you learned anything?" he asked immediately.

"That I look damn good in a tux," she grinned.

It was slightly disarming, being on the receiving end of that grin. He had the urge to grin back. He tamped down on it. "You know what I meant," he growled.

"Not much," she replied. "Judging from the way she's dancing with him I'd say she doesn't know Damien knows that she'd behind it."

"Why is she dancing with him anyway? Surely Luthor and the League have had dealings in the past."

Bella nodded. "Yes, but there was a charity auction last year, the star attraction was a dinner date with Damien."

"And you didn't have the winning bid?" he asked, eyebrow raised.

"I was in Germany that week," she replied, "and besides, I'd just asked him to marry me, I figured I'd staked my claim. Added to which he kept flying over to Europe every night I was there," she added, a slightly dreamy smile gracing her face. "Anyway, Luthor won and asked if the two of them could 'patch up their differences'."

"And Damien said only if Luthor kept from killing his best friend, no doubt."

"Something along those lines. But Lex apparently assumed that it meant they were friends," Bella said in a scornful tone. "Or more than friends judging by the way she's throwing herself on him." Bruce looked over, and sure enough, Lex Luthor was apparently trying to mash her entire body up against Damien's. Bella's hand tightened convulsively around his, but she made no move toward them. Suddenly she stiffened, then gave a sly smile. "Never thought I'd be glad to see that," she murmured looking over his shoulder. Glancing back up at him, she elaborated. "Signal's just gone up. If you'll excuse me I have a dance to drunkenly crash. And I'm collecting on our bet."

"Now?" he asked.

"You're at a ball. Now would seem to be an opportune time," she replied, before stepping away from him and weaving across the floor. He had to admit, she did wasted-off-her-ass jealous spouse very well.

---

Damien had seen the Batsignal go up at the same time Bella had, and over Luthor's head he glanced over at his wife, saw her saw smile and say something to Bruce before pulling away. Catching his eye, she winked, and then slipped almost effortlessly into drunken billionaire mode. He had to admit, he was glad that Bella didn't drink – not if she was like that when really drunk. Even knowing that it was pretence had been embarrassing in the beginning, but by now he'd gotten used to it.

And he'd danced with Lex Luthor all he could stand to tonight. He didn't like the way the woman looked at him – it was predatory in a way that was utterly different to the way Bella sometimes looked at him. Damien wasn't stupid – he knew he was good looking, just as Diana did. It hadn't taken him long after entering Woman's World to realise what that gleam was in almost every woman's eyes. It was one reason he'd fallen so hard for Batwoman – she never had had that hungry expression: at least not until it was softened by love too.

He braced himself as she got closer, her expression now a perfect mix of confusion and possessive anger. It didn't take long for everyone's attention to be focused on their inebriated hostess – with no one looking at her, all of them politely glancing away while missing nothing from their peripheral vision. Damien was fairly certain that most of Gotham thought Bella Wayne was an alcoholic by now.

"The hell do you think you're doing, Lexie?" Bella demanded, all thinly veiled hostility while swaying slightly.

Lex smiled in a placating manner. "Dancing with your charming husband, darling."

Bella's eyes narrowed. "Exactly. _My _husband." Her hand came out to push Lex's shoulder – only if you knew her as well as Damien did would you be able to tell she missed on purpose, and her fingers just about grazed Luthor's skin. "Back off, Alexandra," she growled.

"Bella, honey, maybe you should go sit down for a while, huh?" Damien suggested.

She turned on him. "Oh I bet you'd like that, wouldn't you?" she hissed viciously. "Me out of the picture so you can screw your way around Gotham-"

"Excuse us, Lex, but I think my wife has had enough partying for one evening." Smiling embarrassedly, Damien took his wife by the hand and 'forcibly' dragged her from the ballroom, her stumbling along nicely behind him.

Once they were out of sight of their guests, Bella squeezed his fingers. "Your acting's getting better," she noted softly.

He grinned. "Then you have even more ground to make up."

Still hand-in-hand, the couple walked upstairs to the library, where Bella automatically moved the clock hands to their correct places. Once the door was open, she turned to him. "Don't wait up."

He put a finger under her chin and tilted her head upward to plant a soft and loving kiss on her lips. "You know I will."

She smiled. "I know."

"Be careful."

"I love you," she murmured, kissing him again.

She didn't stick around to hear him say it back – she never did. It wasn't necessary for it to be verbalised. But, as always, Damien waited until she was a wisp of green silk in the darkness, the clock sliding back into place before he spoke. "I love you too."

Sighing, the Amazon turned back to what were now his guests. Walking down the main staircase, he saw Luthor idling by the door. She beamed as he came down, and he realised she wasn't sober either, but was – _thank Zeus _– leaving. Still, he plastered disappointment on his face. "Oh, Lex. Are you leaving?"

"Oh I have to," she replied. "Things to be doing, you know."

"I hope Bella didn't scare you away."

"Of course not," she said sweetly. "How is she anyway?"

He forced a grin. "In bed. She passed out on the way up the stairs."

Luthor laughed in a way that made him want to hit her through a wall. "She'll recover, I'm sure. It isn't as if this is the first time!"

Make that several walls. Too bad Bella was rather attached to the manor.

"Well, I should be going. But you could always come with me," she added with a leer.

With another few innuendos, Luthor was gone, and Damien allowed himself a moment to lean against the door before he went back inside the ballroom. Winifred suddenly came out of the kitchen, her tray restocked with champagne glasses. She raised an eyebrow. "Everything alright, sir?"

Damien smiled. "Oh just fine, Winifred. Just…strengthening myself before rejoining the fray."

"Might I recommend a glass of bubbly? I find it helps somewhat," she winked.

Damien smiled – for real this time. "Thank you, Winifred. What would I do without you?"

"I am quite certain you would be absolutely fine, Master Damien," Winifred said firmly. "Mistress Bella, on the other hand…"

Chuckling, the prince went back into the ballroom, spotting sanctuary in the form of Bruce and John, talking quietly together in a corner. Or rather, John was talking, Bruce was glowering. At Arthur McNamara, the head of Wayne Publishing. Who was dancing with Diana. For a moment, Damien briefly wondered if Bruce was as anti-killing as Bella was. The way he was boring holes into the back to Arthur's head seemed to indicate he wasn't. Suppressing a smirk, Damien made his way over to the two men.

"She gone?" John asked quietly.

Damien nodded. "Just left. How are things going?"

"Just fine. Clark seems to have made a new friend over there," John chuckled, pointing to where the Man of Steel had been backed into a corner by a well-known TV psychic who had both her hands on either side of his face. He looked as though he were willing the earth to swallow him whole. A little way away, Wally and Shayera were dancing in a manner that was totally at odds with the sedate ballroom of all the other guests. "And Bruce is busy trying to kill from afar," he added. Bruce didn't even look around.

"You get the impression he's not really listening, don't you?" Damien said conversationally.

"Yeah," John agreed. "I'm pretty sure I know how to get his attention." He cleared his throat in a dramatic sort of way while Damien grinned. "Diana looks like she's having a great time."

It was a wonder that Bruce didn't break his neck snapping his head around so fast. "What?"

"Nothing…"

He glared.

"Why don't you just go dance with her?" John said.

He glared some more. John winced – not having the protective barrier of the cowl there to mediate the glare it really did feel like the hair on his chin was crisping.

Damien had long ago conditioned himself to the Batglare. "Bruce, she won't say-" Suddenly he stiffened as his gaze focused on a man standing just behind Diana and her dancing partner. Bruce and John followed his gaze. The man was fairly slender, but muscular too, lithe. He had intensely green eyes. Every muscle in Damien's body tensed, his eyes narrowing to chips of ice in his face.

"Who is that?" John asked in an undertone.

Damien clenched his fists. "Sebastian Kyle," he growled.

"Who?"

"Catman," Bruce assumed.

"Yes," the Amazon spat. "What in Tartarus is he doing in Gotham?" he muttered. Well, that at least was obvious. Once a thief always a thief – looked as though the mystery of the missing Picasso had been solved. Though to be burning down museums seemed a tad over the top, even for Sebastian. In the end, it didn't matter to Damien which crimes exactly had brought Catman back to Gotham – only the inevitable attempted seduction of _his _wife mattered at the moment.

He took two steps forward before Bruce caught his shoulder. "Is that a good idea?"

Damien took Bruce's wrist and prised it off his shoulder with barely an effort. "This isn't your world, this isn't your city, and this isn't your house."

Without another word, he was already halfway across the room. The smirk on Catman's face flickered very slightly, then disappeared entirely when Damien grabbed his elbow and yanked him out of the room. "Pushy much?" the other man complained.

Once they were out of the building, Damien took the arm he was still holding and twisted it, shoving Sebastian face-first into the brickwork. Not as hard as he could have done, of course, but probably still rather harder than he should. "Why are you here, Catman?"

"I can't visit my home town now?"

"_Not _when Batwoman's kicked you out, you can't," Damien snarled.

Sebastian turned around and smirked. "Feeling insecure are we, Prince?"

"It's a bit difficult to feel insecure when I have a woman as beautiful as my wife screaming my name almost every night," Damien shot back, equally smug and feeling instantly gratified as his words wiped the smirk off Sebastian's face. And then slightly ashamed of himself – he was talking about Bella like she was a sex toy.

"Fine," Catman snapped. "If you must know, I came to see if I could help. Word on the grapevine was that Batwoman disappeared. I just wanted to help out Gotham while she was gone, that's all. Check she was ok when she got back."

"Back from her _honeymoon_," the Amazon emphasised. "And you know damn well that Nightwing is more than capable of looking after Gotham. Give it up, Sebastian. You had your chance with Bella, and you lost it."

"Did I?" the other man smirked. "So you own the big bad Bat entirely do you?"

"I don't _own _Bella," Damien said, "and nor does anyone else." His eyes glittered in triumph. "And that's why you'll never have her, not even for a second. You lost, Catman."

It proved to be the final straw for the mortal; he lashed out quickly, aiming to land a punch in Damien's solar plexus. Damien grabbed his fist and twisted Sebastian's arm again behind his back. "Try thinking before you act next time," he said. "And I have to admit, modern art isn't normally for me, but that Picasso? They'll be wanting it back down at what remains of the art gallery." He let go and took a step back. "Don't let me catch you out here again."

Seemingly determined to have the last word, Sebastian turned back to the prince. "Oh I won't. But I think I'll be letting Bella catch me quite often."

Damien only smirked. "Oh trust me. She'll only have to catch you once. Take my advice for once, Sebastian. Get out of Gotham. And stay gone." Leaving it there, he turned away from Catman and walked back inside.

---

"Bruce, for God's sake, stop _glaring_," Clark complained, finally making it away from the psychic. "_I'm _the one with laser vision."

Bruce quit glaring at the man dancing with Diana, and began glaring at Clark. "Then go use it _somewhere else_."

"You're over-thinking this whole thing," his friend told him cheerfully. "For once it really is this simple. She's Diana. She wants you. You want her. So go get her!"

Bruce ignored him, his gaze once more returning to the princess.

It worked in this world. It wouldn't in his own. In his, the Bat and Gotham took precedence, and there was no chance for he and Diana. But while they were in this world, maybe...maybe they could have something, however fleeting. Maybe - if he couldn't say it - maybe he could show her that he...he...

He forced himself to think the word. _Love. _He loved her. He loved her. _I love her. _He stared at her then, as if to mentally ask just how she'd managed to carve her way into his heart like that. Why hadn't he noticed before now - now that the thought was out, it was impossible to ignore. It demanded attention, action.

He looked at the man she was dancing with with fresh eyes. The idea of his princess moving on had brought sadness before, grief. Now it only brought anger. Hard, red, sweeping jealousy roared through him in a wave that made his fists clench involuntarily. There were some instincts that even millennia of evolution and decades of perfect etiquette training couldn't repress - and the primal hot blood of the caveman inside Bruce was rearing his ugly head, sniffing the air. No one, _no one_; not that bastard dancing with her or King Faraday or _anyone _could lay claim to her. Maybe things would have to change in their world, but right here and right now, Diana belonged to him.

It wasn't until he was cutting into the dance with a smile distinctly reminiscent of a shark that Bruce was even aware of having moved.

---

**A/N: Man I need to go to bed. 2:30 am! Eeeeeek! Review please! **


	15. A Real Party

**A/N: Thank you to everyone for their reviews! Also thank you, as always to AQ. Here's the next chapter! **

**Chapter Fifteen - A Real Party**

He was probably holding her hand far too tightly, her body far too close to his for it still be polite. A dance between friends. Far too tight.

Though, for a woman who was this strong, was there such a thing as 'too tight'?

From the look in her eyes, she did not understand what was going on. "Bruce?"

The predatory smile faded, replaced by a genuine one. He could still feel every cell humming with possessiveness though. "Diana."

She blinked, hesitated, bit her lower lip. Made his eyes flick involuntarily to her mouth. Her words broke the _kiss her, kiss her, kiss her _litany running through his brain. "Did you mean it?" she asked.

He frowned – hadn't he kissed her earlier to prove he was serious? "Of course."

A light blush spread across her cheeks. He fought the urge to grin, but her mouth remained serious. "It's just..." A sigh escaped her, and she shook her head. "Never mind, forget it."

She avoided his gaze for a moment or two, and he could tell her heart was no longer in the dancing. When she looked back, her eyes were utterly bleak. "I need some air," she whispered, voice almost inaudible. "Excuse me."

She pulled away, heading for the exit. He was after her before the door to the ballroom had closed, following her out the front doors. "Diana, wait."

"For what, Bruce?" she exclaimed wildly, on the edge of tears and not stopping or looking around. "I've been waiting for five years – and that's what you have to give me? A dance and a-"

He moved then, surging forward to pull her into his arms and stare at her with an almost feral intensity.

Her lips were throbbing. Every beat of her pulse she felt through her lips, a light tingle sweeping through them, followed by another identical one a second later. He hadn't even kissed her yet, but he was going to, she was sure of that. The only question was when, and the longer he waited the more tense and less sure she got that she wanted him-

Just as she was teetering on the point of pulling away, Bruce kissed her. He didn't kiss her gently, or wait for her to get used to it before he deepened the bruising contact. The way he kissed her left no room whatsoever for doubt about the way he might have felt about her, sending shockwaves through her body. His hand on her back was insistent, pressing her closer. Diana wasn't protesting, her arms wrapping around his shoulders. She wasn't sure how exactly he did it, since she didn't feel the touch, but suddenly her hair was falling out of its intricate arrangement. His fingers fisted in her hair as his mouth left hers and descended on the flesh of her neck.

Bruce seemed to realise how fast things were escalating when she gasped out his name, voice breathless with need. He let go immediately, took a step back. Diana stared at him. _Don't you dare, don't you dare, don't you dare..._

Determined that he wasn't going to run away from her again, she moved forward, slid one hand around to the back of his neck and ran the other one through his hair. She didn't say anything, but leaned in to kiss him again. Bruce stopped her, taking her face between his hands and shaking his head. "Diana, I don't want you to think I-"

She put her fingers to his lips, looking at him so directly there was nowhere else to point his gaze. "Do you love me?" she asked simply.

It didn't cross his mind to be anything less than honest. "Yes, but-"

"Then no more talking," she said.

There wasn't anymore talking after that. She kissed him again; he kissed back with a sense of relief. This was the way it was now, the way it should be. The way it should have been for months, years even. From tonight onward...she was _his_ Diana.

This may as well have been his house; it wasn't difficult to take her hand, lead her around the back and up the stairs. She giggled when he started toward the master bedroom. "Not your house, Bruce," she whispered, tugging him back the other way.

It wasn't far to the bedroom she was staying in, and soon enough the door was closed. The bed seemed to fill the space, looking too big, too imposing. There was nothing inviting about it.

That changed utterly when Diana sat down on it. She said nothing, but held out a hand to him. He took it, sitting next to her and suddenly feeling totally at peace. She smiled, reaching out to touch his face. Everything after that was like moving through water.

Kissing his way down her neck.

Her hands finding every scar on his body, running her lips over each one.

The sound her dress made as it slid from her body.

The tiny gasp of pain that left her mouth when he moved inside her.

The next gasp – which was not of pain.

Groaning out his own pleasure as she climaxed around him.

Realising that, for the first time in a long time, he wasn't keeping track of what time it was; he wasn't worrying about Gotham or anything else. He could just have the woman he loved in his arms, see her smile, feel her shape tremble against him, and make love until the sun rose.

---

Shayera was bored. Wally had, almost inevitably, found a pretty girl to chat up, and Damien had just come back inside looking rather satisfied with himself, and was now talking animatedly with Clark. Bruce and Diana had disappeared some time ago, probably upstairs. She hoped so, anyway. If that man hadn't finally given the poor princess some relief then he'd be getting a mace up the…well, no need to spell it out. Still, if she was right, she doubted they'd be coming down anytime soon. Like before daybreak.

In fact, the only person who looked just as bored as she did was John. Tired of this piss-poor excuse for alcohol and a worse excuse of a party, Shayera rolled her eyes and made a beeline for him. She arrived in front of him with her hand held out and an expression that made it clear she wouldn't take no for an answer.

"Come on."

He raised an eyebrow. "Where are we going?"

"To find a real party," she grinned with a wink.

The corner of his mouth curling upward in a smirk, John took her hand, and she pulled him out of the ballroom and toward the garage.

She stopped in front of the rows of gleaming, gorgeous, and _expensive _cars. "Pick your favourite."

"You do realise Bella's going to be supremely pissed at us for taking one of these, don't you?"

She shrugged. "I'm inclined to go for the Lamborghini myself."

He wrinkled his nose. "Hell no! You have an Ascari there and you're not taking advantage of it?"

"Well do you have any idea how to hot-wire an Ascari?" she asked. "Because I sure as hell–"

They were interrupted by a soft clearing of a throat, and turned, looking very much like naughty children, to see Winifred standing there. With a key in her hand. "If I might, Miss, sir, I'd recommend the Aston Martin, and 'Q' bar, on the corner of Lexington and Mayworth. It serves particularly good cocktails."

Shayera grinned and took the car-keys from the Englishwoman. "Thanks, Winifred."

She only nodded. "Enjoy your evening." With that, she turned and went back to the party.

Shayera opened the Aston and slid into the driver's seat. "Hey! What are you waiting for?"

"Oh please, like I'm riding shotgun with you," he scoffed. "I've seen you pilot; it's terrifying."

"So strap in," she replied, turning the car on and revving the engine. Just because she could.

John rolled his eyes and got into the passenger seat, buckling his seatbelt. "Hold onto these for me, would you?" she said, taking off her shoes.

John chuckled. It was one of her quirks – she avoided wearing shoes as much as possible unless she really had to, even taking them off if she had monitor duty. He distinctly remembered several shifts that had started with her putting her feet in his lap for a foot-rub and had continued on from there. That was after she'd worked out how to disable the security cameras on board the old Watchtower. Batman didn't need to know everything that went on up there.

Barefoot now, Shayera found the button that opened the garage doors. She then roared through them and down the driveway. It took approximately four point two seconds for John's fingers to convulsively clutch at the edge of the seat.

_Dear God, please let me survive this..._

Fifteen minutes later, Shayera's elbow poked into his ribcage. "We're here, you big wuss."

John cracked open his eyes. Sure enough, they were parked. He was alive, and apparently in one piece. He couldn't get out of the car fast enough. As a result, he was out before Shayera, and in time to see her exit the car gracefully, still looking as incredible as she had at the beginning of the evening.

"You're beautiful."

The words were out of his mouth before his brain engaged. Shayera's gaze snapped to his, and he was reminded that it wasn't just her dress that was beautiful. Without her wings, though, she was just another beautiful woman. With them...

"Thanks," she said quietly.

She locked the car, pocketed the keys and put her arm in his. "Come on, Stewart. Let's get drunk."

He grinned. "Just like old times."

They went inside, drawing a few looks because of their evening attire, but once they ordered the drinks – beginning with an 'Aunt Roberta', whatever that was – and showing every intention of continuing from there.

"I can't believe they serve these here!" she enthused. "I've only ever found them in one bar in New York."

"What are they?" John asked, sniffing suspiciously at his drink.

"I'm not telling you, you'll probably refuse to drink it," she said, throwing hers back. "Lightweight."

She fixed him with a smirk, challenge sparkling in her emerald eyes. John took a surreptitious deep breath and echoed her movement. It was no less than three seconds before fire stripped out his vocal chords and then raced down to his stomach. "Holy shit!" he coughed, lungs aflame too.

She laughed, then handed him another one.

Twenty minutes later, John had given up on the cocktails, and switched to beer. Shayera had also toned her drinks down – only she was drinking whiskey. She leaned toward him once she felt pleasantly warm. "Are you ever going to kiss me?"

He leaned forward too, and she felt his breath on her face, knew he was going to…tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, apparently. He also didn't answer her question.

_Bastard._

Huffing, she put her chin on her palm and leaned against the bar, throwing back another shot. After a few minutes, another man came to stand next to her after several lustful glances, each of which made her feel faintly unclean.

Hey, darlin'," he slurred.

Shayera leaned back to avoid throwing up at the stench on his breath. "Can I help you?"

He leered. "No... but I can help _you _by buying you a drink."

Well, what the hell? If John wasn't going to make the first move then she might as well make him jealous. It would be fun, something she was in desperate need of tonight. "Alright. Double scotch, neat."

He gestured to the barman and then, to Shayera's consternation, simply took the bottle. Damn it. Her and her big mouth. "So...what's a pretty girl like you doing in a place like this?"

"Drinking," she said shortly, draining her glass in one swallow.

The guy whistled. "Wow. You know I like a woman who can hold her drink."

"State you're in, I imagine you like anything in a skirt right about now," she commented dryly.

He grunted out a laugh, then moved his sweaty hand down her arm in a move that she assumed was supposed to be seductive. "Well that includes you, sweetheart."

She picked up his hand like it was a piece of rotting meat and removed it. "Don't call me 'sweetheart' again," she told him pleasantly.

"Ohh...modern chick, huh? Well that's okay, doll, I can do modern." He put the hand back.

Shayera counted to ten. Took the hand off. "Apparently not."

The hand went back on. This guy was heading the right way for a mace up the- John intervened. "Maybe you should leave, buddy, huh? The lady obviously doesn't-"

The drunk squared up to GL. Shayera rolled her eyes. Wonderful. As if this bar didn't have enough testosterone in it already.

"I think we should ask the lady what she thinks." He put a hand on her back – luckily between her wings. "What'd ya say, sweetheart? You up for-"

"Don't. Call. Me. Sweetheart," she ground out from between gritted teeth.

_And I'm no lady, Stewart._

He laughed. "Sure, honey, whatever you say."

The hand slid down. And squeezed.

She turned to him with eyes incandescent with rage. "You did _not _just grab my ass."

He smiled. "What's the harm, sweetheart?"

Shayera turned back to the bar, poured herself another shot and drained it. Then cracked her knuckles. John got a worried look on his face. "Uh, Shay, maybe we-"

The guy's voice whispered heavily in her ear. "It's a nice ass," he said, grasping it again.

She punched him. Hard. From six foot two to unconscious in less than three seconds. She spoke to his knocked-out form. "Don't call me sweetheart, and _never _grab my ass."

Some blonde woman interrupted. "Hey! You punched my husband!" she screeched.

Shayera blinked. That scumbag had found someone dumb enough to _marry _him?! The shock made her drop her guard momentarily, enough time for the Barbie look-a-like to slap her and grab a handful of red hair.

Shayera's gaze narrowed. "Oh-hoh, that was a mistake, ma'am."

She went for a head-butt, slamming her forehead against the bridge of the other woman's nose. A guy decided that he wanted to get in the middle of a chick fight and tried to intervene. He got a knee in the balls for his trouble. GL sighed and finished his beer. "Never take her to a bar, John," he told himself in a mutter. "Did you learn nothing after last time?"

The next drunk who went for Shayera got stopped by the fist of an ex-Marine.

A few minutes later, they were back to back, in the centre of a ring of half a dozen unconscious drunks and facing at least another ten. "Wanna get out of here?" he called to her.

She glanced at him, and the smile on her face was enough to make him fall in love all over again. "Are you kidding?! I'm just starting to have fun!"

---

Patrol had been quiet, apart from one thing which unsettled Batwoman – it hadn't been Sarah Gordon who'd activated the Batsignal, and apparently there was no real emergency. Which meant a trap. There didn't seem to be a trap either though, so it was simply designed to attract her attention. Which meant only one person.

And he didn't seem to be around either. Bella wasn't worried; if Sebastian wasn't in Gotham, he was at the manor, winding Damien up. She knew that he wouldn't rise to the bait. At least, she hoped he wouldn't.

At about a quarter to three, she was thinking about heading home when she spotted a group of three girls coming out of a club, being tailed by a couple of guys. Bella saw the flash of a knife, and decided to drop in on them. Quite literally.

By the time she got there, the girls had been cornered in an alley way, and the two men were approaching them menacingly, knives drawn. "Who's gonna get screwed first?" one of them grunted.

It was all Bella needed – they'd moved from intimidation to attempted rape, and now their asses were hers. She landed on top of one of them, hitting the relevant pressure points in his neck. The girls took that as their cue to scram, but the other would-be rapist dropped his knife and tried running away. She went after him, launching a kick that struck his shoulder blade. He went down with an 'oooof', but then got up again.

Bella let him, her momentarily attention shifting to the black shape watching from the rooftop. _Great._

Swiftly, she broke the wrist of the criminal, then shoved him head-first into a wall. Catman was already gone; she could no longer sense him. She tied them up in bolos and dragged them to the corner of the street. There was a police patrol around this block, and they'd pass these two in a few minutes.

In the meantime, she had another criminal to deal with.

Sebastian was already waiting when Batwoman landed on top of Gotham Cathedral. "And here I was thinking I'd been stood up," he commented.

Bella didn't waste time with pleasantries. "Get out."

"Don't talk like that, darling, you'll upset me."

"_Now_."

He moved toward her, running a finger lightly along her lips. She glared at him. He grinned, leaned in to kiss her. He was stopped by the pointy end of a batarang being pressed into his stomach.

Sebastian smirked. "Well, I hadn't realised we _both_ have claws, Bella."

"Back off," she growled.

He grinned, but did move a pace or two back. "Not in the mood to play then?"

"Those days are long gone, Sebastian," she told him. "Get out of my city, and stay gone."

"Hmm. That's what your little prince told me."

Bella made a mental note to kiss Damien senseless for not losing his temper when she got home. "He was right. There's no reason for you to be here."

Suddenly Sebastian's face collapsed into sadness. "There really isn't, is there?"

Bella knew him too well to be taken in by it. "No. Leave."

"Bella...you really love him, don't you?"

"I don't have time for this," she said, turning away and moving to the edge of the roof again.

A hand grasped her shoulder; Bella grabbed his wrist and threw him over her shoulder, slamming him down onto the stone of the tower roof. Her boot was pressing into his throat before even the lithe Catman could roll away. She wasn't going to waste time pretending that once upon a time she hadn't been in love with him. No, that wasn't right. She'd _wanted _him, but never loved him. Love was unconditional, and their relationship had always been dependent on conditions. Namely, that Sebastian stop breaking the law. Bella knew now that no matter how much he might profess to want her, what he really wanted was to control her. Well not anymore.

Now she had Damien.

She pressed her boot in harder. Her order was simple. "Leave now. Don't come back."

After diving off the top of the building, Batwoman headed to the Batmobile, and home. She suddenly very much wanted to see her husband.

She got her wish; when she pulled into the Batcave, the computer was on, and Damien sat at it.

"Hey," he said, standing up.

She pulled her mask off wearily. "Hey, yourself." He held out his arms, and she stepped gratefully into them. "What are you still doing up?" she murmured against his neck.

"Waiting for you," he whispered back. "Couldn't sleep."

She smiled and lifted her chin to kiss him. It started tenderly, quickly growing in passion, their tongues meeting as they explored the mouth of the other. If possible, Bella fell in love with him a little bit more when his hands slowly started massaging the knots out of her shoulders. "Oh, that's good," she groaned.

He kissed down her neck. "Full-body massage?"

She nodded slowly. "I think so…"

"Then we should take this upstairs," he said, scooping his wife into his arms and lifting into the air.

"Have I ever told you I love you?" she asked, nipping along his jaw line.

---

Both couples spent that thankfully long, pleasure-filled night quietly making love, exploring and tasting and taking and touching, until Bruce knew every inch of Diana's flawless skin, and Diana knew every scar that littered Bruce's body. Bella and Damien knew each other so well by now that they didn't have the wide-eyed newness of it all; but their rush came from being so deeply in love, from knowing that they had the rest of their lives for this.

When the sun was rising over Gotham, a blue-eyed woman lay in sated bliss next to her sleeping dark haired lover. Snuggling deeper into his side, she moved her mouth to his ear, and whispered, "I love you."

---

**A/N: Sorry this update took me so long! Review please!**


	16. Back To Work

**A/N: Angel Queen gets credit for the title, and for the beta, so cheers hon :) Thank you for the reviews, and this is quite short, I'm warning you now, but it seemed like the right place to end it :) Enjoy! **

**Chapter Sixteen – Back To Work**

It didn't seem possible, that the world could look exactly the same as it had yesterday, she thought. It should be brighter, more colourful. But it looked exactly the same – despite _everything _being different for her.

She knew she was no longer a favourite of Artemis, though she did hope she might now have the protection of Aphrodite from the goddess of the hunt's wrath. After all, it had to have been in Aphrodite's plan for she and Bruce to... She felt warmth creep up her face. She was not ashamed of what they had done last night; indeed, she couldn't help but be slightly proud of it. She had challenged him to love her, challenge him to fight for her...and he had done both. She had chosen well. Diana was certain that he was a favourite of Nemesis, which would no doubt make him acceptable to many others on Olympus. Nemesis' favour might even be enough to help stem Artemis' rage. It had been millennia since the goddess of vengeance had bestowed her approval on a mortal.

Diana stood by the window, looking out across the grounds of Wayne Manor as the sun rose across it. The room was filled with warm golden sunlight and the soft sound of her lover's breathing. She could not imagine a more perfect combination.

"Diana...?"

She smiled. "Over here." She turned to see Bruce leaning up on his elbow. She decided that the mussed, sleepy, satisfied look suited him very well. "It's morning," she said quietly.

"That depends on your point of view," he replied. "So far as I'm concerned, six am is not 'morning'." With a suggestive grin, he folded back the duvet and let the empty space in the bed make the rest of the request.

With a grin, Diana joined him, leaning down to his mouth while the rest of her body aligned with his. When they joined for what would be possible the sixth or seventh time – she thought, not having really kept count – it was just as wonderful as the last. His touch still made her skin burn, his breathless voice groaning her name in her ear still made her heart pound. Their coupling still brought unbearable pleasure to her every nerve. Afterward, she still felt utterly boneless, like someone had taken away her organs and replaced them with jelly.

"Mmmmm..."

Bruce chuckled lowly. "Meaning...?"

"I think that covered it," she said. "Can we just stay in bed for the whole day?"

He kissed her shoulder. "Works for me."

Unfortunately, staying in bed all day did not seem to work for either of their stomachs. Almost simultaneously, rumbling noises came from both of them. "Stay here," Bruce said, kissing her again. It was difficult to stop. "I'll get us some breakfast."

She smiled and snuggled down into the warm cocoon his body had left behind. "Hurry back."

Bruce slipped on a robe and left the room with the urge to actively whistle. He didn't encounter anyone on the way down the stairs, and nor did anyone else seem to be awake. He walked past the drawing room after glancing inside – and then backtracked half a second later. Standing in the doorway, he chuckled. On the couch, John was asleep with Shayera stretched out on top of him, both fully clothed in their evening wear from last night, snoring loudly with their mouths open.

_Looks like someone else had a good night as well,_ Bruce thought amusedly.

Leaving them to sleep, he went into the kitchen still laughing. Unsurprisingly, Bella was already up. She smiled at him. "You saw John and Shayera then?"

He nodded. "Good patrol?" he asked, wondering if he should mention Sebastian's visit.

From the flicker of anger that crossed her face, Bella already knew. "Once Catman left, it was fine," she answered neutrally. Looking back at him with a slightly smug smirk, she pointed over to one of the counters. On which lay a perfectly prepared tray of breakfast foods, along with a steaming silver pot of coffee. For two. "Winifred made that for you."

"How did she...?" Bruce left the end of the question unasked, since Winifred was the female version of Alfred, and made the rest of the question redundant. With a final nod to Bella, he took the tray and left the kitchen. Or tried to, anyway. The doors opened before he got there, Wally breezing through them. After all, when he'd had a good night's sleep, Wally had more energy than at any other time of day.

"Whoa, Bruce, sorry didn't see ya there!" he said. "That was some party last night, huh? Though I guess you have things like that all the time, don't you? Even so, has to be fun when you're not on the job, huh? Though I didn't see you much after eleven, where'd you go? Wow, that breakfast looks great, lots of food there, huh? Actually..." Wally's eyes narrowed as he focused on the tray. Bruce tried to move past him, but to no avail. "That's quite a lot of food you got there, for just yourself… oh my God did you and the princess finally do the horizontal mambo?!"

Silence reigned supreme for a few seconds before Bella spoke lightly. "Flash, if you value your continued ability to walk, I'd move out of the way."

Flash saw the look on his face and quickly followed her advice, but as Bruce left the kitchen, he heard Wally repeat his question in a hiss to Bella. "Wally, I'm serious. Don't you dare repeat that, to anyone, or I swear to God I'll lock you in the Cave until it's time to send you home, and then Bruce will lock you in _his_ Cave until the sun implodes, am I making myself clear?"

Wally's silence implied she was indeed making herself crystal clear.

Feeling slightly better, Bruce carried on up the stairs, pushing the bedroom door open to find Diana sitting up in bed, the covers tucked neatly under her arms. She smiled at him, looking completely innocent. Knowing that she wasn't quite as innocent this morning as she had been yesterday – and that he'd had a hand in...corrupting her – gave him no small satisfaction.

"I thought you'd run away," she joked.

"Blame Flash," he said.

Her eyes grew wide. "He doesn't _know_, does he?"

"He figured it out," he replied. "But he won't say anything."

She nodded. "Good."

He put the tray down and sat down on the edge of the bed. Leaning forward to tuck a strand of black hair behind her ear, he asked, "Would it be so bad if he did?"

She shook her head, catching his hand with hers. "No," she said, "but...I like that it's just us. It's exciting, the..." She trailed off, apparently not able to find the right word for it.

"Secrecy?" he asked, heart sinking. Almost everything about his life was secret; for once, he didn't want this to be there too.

Diana seemed to disagree. "No, I mean the intimacy of it. Plus the fact..." She frowned and bit her lip, sighing unhappily. "I'm still officially dating King." She leaned forward, burying her head in her hands. "He doesn't deserve this. He's a good man, and here I am physically cheating on him, not only..."

"Not only?" he prompted.

She looked up and met his eyes. Hers were still guilty. "Not only spiritually," she replied. "Bruce...even at home I... I had fun with King," she said honestly. "It's easy and simple to spend time with him, but he's not you. He never was. I used to wish he were, sometimes, but he's not. I can't deny myself anymore, Bruce. I want you. Hera forgive me, I know it sounds so cruel, but King isn't enough for me." She smiled and kissed him. "My mother always said that I had good instincts, that my first reaction is always correct. She was right," she said simply.

Bruce honestly didn't know what to say in reply to Diana's confession. Though he was petty enough to feel some silent satisfaction at having won her away from Faraday – he'd never say so out loud, of course, knowing that Diana well and truly respected the other man – he really didn't have a gift for words in situations like these. Really, what _could_ he say after that? Instead, Bruce took her hand in his and pressed a kiss to her palm, and then another one to her wrist.

Breakfast went cold after that.

---

The plan had been that once everyone was dressed and fed (or not, in Bruce and Diana's case), they would assemble in the Cave, but that didn't quite happen. In reality it was far more complicated than that. John and Shayera didn't regain consciousness until around about three in the afternoon, and then spent another hour arguing about a) who was to blame for the fact that they both had the mother-of-all-hangovers, b) just why John had woken up with a passed-out Shayera on his chest, and c) whose bruises hurt most – apparently they'd gotten into a bar fight, which was absolutely no surprise to anyone.

As expected, Bruce and Diana maintained a polite distance from each other, but couldn't stop sharing distinctly hungry glances whenever they thought no one was looking.

While Wally was hopping to do something, Clark was lacking his usual enthusiasm, as was Damien; they'd both had rather a lot to drink last night, and neither of their heads was thanking them now. It was at least five p.m. before Bella's batglares had the effect of getting everyone down into the Cave, and even then she'd left in exasperation before they followed.

As they went down the stairs, Batwoman was talking to Green Arrow onscreen. "If you need help, contact us," she told Queen, "but _only _in an emergency. If we're going to be ready for Superwoman and the others then-"

Olivia nodded. "Got it. We'll look after Earth. Good luck, Bella."

She nodded. "You too. Batwoman out."

Terminating the connection, she turned to the others and began the briefing. "Right, now that the League is functioning again, we focus on Luthor, and find a way to reverse whatever she did before Superwoman and the others get back."

"Agreed, but how exactly do we go about doing that?" Shayera asked. "It's not as if she's just going to tell us."

"We already narrowed it down significantly," Bruce said. "Le Fay denied using magic to manipulate their minds."

"Therefore Luthor must be doing it through technology. So most likely she introduced some new onboard the Watchtower, or altered an existing system or component."

"Perhaps it was a chemical compound in the air?" Diana suggested. "Pumped into the conference room?"

"A good idea, but the air in the conference room is exactly the same as it is in the rest of the Tower. It passes through the same ventilation system. There'd be no way to isolate it," Bruce explained.

They all stared thoughtfully into space for a few moments. "The com-links," Damien said suddenly. "Weren't they updated while we were away?" he asked his wife.

She nodded. "Yes… but I don't see how Luthor could have sabotaged them…"

"Well it's worth testing though right?" he asked. "I haven't used mine yet; it's still down here."

"Mmm. So is mine," she said. "You're right, it is worth checking. Right," she started, indicating the two Amazons. "Damien, Diana, could you go through the Watchtower maintenance logs? Check if there's been any other new technology or software installed within the last six months. John, Shayera, check the personnel logs – check all new employees, again within the last six months. Vet them for any connection to Lex Corp. Clark, I need you to track down Luthor. She should be back in Metropolis by now, but according to Oracle she's dropped off the grid totally. Wally, help Clark." She looked at Bruce. "We're going to dissect those com-links."

"Then we'll need more sophisticated equipment than you have here," he said.

She nodded and looked at the time. "In twenty minutes, Wayne Enterprises will be empty – the R & D department should have what we need."

---

**A/N: Review please!**


	17. Here

**A/N: Thank you for the reviews! And once again, my thanks go to AQ for her input and beta skills.**

**Chapter Seventeen – Here**

"Diana?"

Blinking, Diana came out of her reverie, and looked up at Damien. "Yes?"

"You look pensive," he said. "Anything wrong?"

She grimaced. "Just...rehearsing something in my mind."

"Ah. What are you going to say to him?"

She frowned. "How do you–"

"I'm you, Diana. It's not hard to work out something's bothering you, and considering what happened last night..."

"You know about that?"

"I know myself," he answered. "And I recognise that...tension there was between the two of you. It seems to have been broken by something, and since neither one of you is dead..."

She smiled. "Is that how it happened with you?"

He nodded, smirking. "After Bella and Kyra reset the future, we began dating properly, and though she'd kiss me goodnight after every one, it never went further than that. It got to the point where I was almost letting it interfere with missions."

Diana stayed silent, knowing that in the past sometimes she – and she suspected now that Bruce had too – let the sexual tension between them overwhelm them in situations it shouldn't have. "So what did you do?"

His smile turned wistful. "Pretty much jumped her in the limo on the way back from the opera one night."

Diana laughed, remembering Bruce's expression the night before; it wasn't much that could have stopped him – not that she had any intention of doing so. Hera knew she'd been waiting for it as long as he had. Longer, probably. Though considering how incredible last night had been, it was a wonder she'd almost given up...

Which led her back to her original thought: King. What in Tartarus would she tell him? There was no way to sugarcoat it, and he didn't deserve anything less than her honesty, but it would sound so harsh…

Damien put a hand on her shoulder, breaking into her thoughts. "Just be honest, Diana," he said. "As horrible as it sounds, you've deceived him. Your heart belonged to someone else before you even entered into the relationship. That isn't anyone's fault, but it is a fact."

She nodded, knowing she couldn't argue. "I know. I just don't want to be cruel."

"Following your heart is never cruel, but lying to him would be. So..."

"Be honest," she finished, nodding. "The mistakes are made already."

"Exactly."

She sighed and squared her shoulders. "Did we find anything?" she asked, gesturing to the screen before them.

Damien shook his head. "Nothing. There were some modifications made, but all of them fit the blueprints exactly, and none of them were any more major than a new fridge for the commissary."

"So no new air conditioning units? The heating system wasn't replaced recently?"

"No. Going back further, the latest upgrade made was to the gravity simulators, and that was over six months ago."

She nodded, then turned to John and Shayera, who did not look as though they were making any headway – or indeed trying to. Rather they were talking very quietly, heads close together as if they were in a candlelit restaurant rather than in the Batcave. Diana saw Shayera's mouth tilt in a smile, heard John's quiet chuckle. She felt her heart get lighter. They may be in another world, but maybe this mission had been just what all of them needed.

"Hit by Cupid's arrow," she murmured.

"Or Eros'," Damien said.

She giggled. "What's the expression? 'Love parrots'?"

"Love birds," he corrected.

"Thanks. Hey, love birds!" she called, suddenly feeling a lot like Flash.

They both looked up, but rather than the thunderous expressions she was expecting, they simply blushed lightly. Surprised, she walked over to them. "Found anything?"

"Only one JLU employee has ever worked at LexCorp, and since she was a summer intern at the age of seventeen, I think we can safely rule her out," Shayera replied. "Other than that...nothing."

"Plenty of former Wayne Enterprises employees though," John noted. "Over forty percent of the total staff."

Diana let out a sigh. "So nothing connecting it to Luthor evidence-wise."

"Nothing that would stand up in court," John shrugged.

"What about you, Clark?" she called. "Anything?"

"We now have Luthor's schedule for the next two weeks," Clark said.

"How?"

Flash turned around, smirking. "Thanks to me. Turns out even parallel world chicks can't resist the Speedster."

Diana rolled her eyes. "So you flirted with her secretary."

Wally held up a finger. "Her PA," he corrected. "Name's Rosie, she sounded about five eight, really nice legs."

"What– Flash, how can you tell over the phone-"

He shrugged. "It's a gift. I've learned not to question these things."

"I see," she smiled, feeling a wave of affection for her young friend. "Well what else did 'Rosie' say?"

Clark took over. "Just that Luthor hasn't shown up for her appointments with her beautician, therepist – if you can believe that – or her–" He broke off and shuddered, "–her bikini waxer. Apparently, it's not really rare for her to miss that kind of thing. There's a board meeting at LexCorp tomorrow at two p.m. Rosie assures us that Ms. Luthor will be there to face the board – who apparently are not too happy with her; the company's profit margins are down more than seven percent since this time last quarter."

"I see. Then hopefully we can track her from there, then arrest her once we figure out how she did it," Diana said. "But, for now, you have no idea where she is?"

"None whatsoever," Superman told her.

She frowned. "I hope Bruce and Bella are having more luck."

---

"Found anything?"

"Possibly," he said. "My com-link and yours are identical, so any differences should be easy to stop. Like this one."

She made her way over, looked through the microscope when he moved out of the way. "See it?" he asked.

"That white dot?"

"Yes. It's soldered on, microscopic in size. Doesn't appear on the schematics."

She frowned. "It looks like the kind of pocket we use to contain..."

"Contain what?"

Batwoman shook her head. "I need to investigate further. I'll take it apart under the electron microscope."

"I'll take the other one to the mass spectrometer, analyse its components. See what shouldn't be there."

"Alright."

An hour later, after Bruce had analysed the results the mass-spec had spat back out, he heard a hissing coming through his com-link. "Batwoman?" he asked, putting a hand up.

"I've worked out what's wrong with the com-links," she told him. "Anything from the mass-spec?"

"No. A few materials are present in levels a few micrograms heavier than I would expect normally, but nothing significant. What about you?"

She told him. "Shit," he cursed softly.

When they got back to the Cave, Bella didn't waste time explaining to the others.

"Damien was right," she announced once the Batmobile was parked. "The com-links were sabotaged. They were re-engineered to contain thousands of nanites."

"Nanites?" Diana asked.

"Tiny robots," Batman answered. "Nano technology. Small enough to find the gaps between atoms and move through solid objects."

"They were programmed to target specific areas in the brain," Bella continued. "They've basically re-written the morality of the others, but the programming was more sophisticated than Luthor realised. She assumed that the nanites would just reverse their morality, and that it would be easy to manipulate them."

"What do you mean, more sophisticated?" Hawkgirl asked.

"A certain degree of AI is necessary for that kind of delicate operation," she explained, "and rather than execute a direct shift, the nanites performed a more subtle operation. They did change the morality of Superwoman and the others, but they worked _with _the brain, not against it. The nanites let the instinct of self-preservation guide their actions, but they magnified it. Hence why Luthor couldn't control them, and why they began treating everyone outside the team as an enemy."

"But who makes the com-links?" Superman asked. "I can hardly believe that I would have accepted the com-links if they were manufactured by LexCorp."

"They're not," Damien said.

"So who makes them?" John echoed.

"We did," he replied. "Or rather, Wayne Tech did."

There was a silence. "So what does that mean?" Flash asked.

Bella crushed her com-link in her palm. "It means there's a spy in my company," she growled.

"More than that," Bruce pointed out, "otherwise the rest of the League would have been affected as well."

"True," she conceded. "So we're talking about whoever was responsible for handing the com-links out to Leaguers. It's the only way they could make certain they got to the founding members."

Bruce was already at the computers, accessing personnel files for all the civilian employees of the League. "Then it narrows our list down considerably."

Bella moved to the other set of screens, calling up the same list for Wayne Enterprises. "Computer, cross-reference with list of League civilian personnel for common names."

_"Command confirmed."_ Everyone stared at Batwoman when the computer spoke in Wonder Warrior's voice.

She glared back. "What? It's better than a robot," she said defensively.

Bruce hid his smile – even though no one was looking at him. A good thing, since his computers had spoken in Diana's voice for the last five years. He chanced a glance at her, expecting to see her chuckling at Batwoman like the rest of them. Instead, he saw her looking at him with _that_ look on her face, the knowing grin and eyebrow raised smugly. Totally and undeniably sexy. A wave of desire, surprising even to him in its strength, rushed through him. Why on earth he'd ever thought that acting on it once would help purge it he had no idea. Now he had memories as well as imaginings. The situation required further thought. If thought was possible where Diana was concerned.

"Cross-referencing complete," the computer announced. "Three matches."

"Names?"

"Smith, Jennifer. Montes, Diego. Norton, Samual."

The lenses in Bella's cowl narrowed. "I think they'll be getting a late-night visit to–"

The sound of footsteps came down the stairs, followed by Winifred's dignified voice. "The Batsignal has just been illuminated, Madam."

"–Tomorrow," Bella finished. She gestured to the others. "I suggest you go upstairs, have some food, and get some rest. We'll continue this tomorrow."

"Need any help?" Damien asked seriously.

She shook her head. "Not for now. When I know how bad the situation is, I'll call you."

Knowing this was something they shouldn't be staring at, the others all moved upstairs. Bella moved over to Damien and put a hand to his face. "If I need help, I'll call you," she enunciated gently.

Bruce glanced back at them from the top of the stairs, noting how easily the affection flowed between them. He kissed her leather-clad palm. "Alright. Be safe."

She smiled, and then left, walking to the Batmobile. Bruce turned back to move quickly upstairs before Damien followed.

After they'd eaten, the others had gone to bed. Diana was in the kitchen, chatting to Winifred while she made coffee. Bruce stood by the window and watched Gotham for a few moments. Up in the flickering clouds, the Batsignal was switched off. It felt very odd, watching that be turned off – normally he was knee-deep in whatever case Gordon needed help on. Still, it was odd in a good way. He knew that until old age forced him to retire, he wouldn't voluntarily relinquish Batman. Here, though, here he didn't have to worry about his city, or the rogues. Here he could just...

The door opened, and Diana came in, smiling at him. He returned the smile. Here he could afford the luxury of this. He could afford to be unguarded with his emotions, he could afford to put the fact that he loved Diana above everything else.

As he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, though, and pressed a kiss to her hair, that thought came back with a startling sense of the ominous. _Here._

---

**A/N: Review please!**


	18. Luthor's New Obsession

**A/N: Thank you for the reviews! Here's the next chapter, enjoy :D As always, thank you to AQ. **

**Chapter Eighteen - Luthor's New Obsession**

Doctor Samuel Norton had never been happy. His reach had always exceeded his grasp. When he was sixteen, instead of buying him the shiny red Corvette he wanted, his parents had brought him an old, banged-up truck. It was then that he decided that there was no way his parents would be able to ever give him the comfortable life he wanted. So anything he wanted, he'd have to work in order to get it.

He worked hard; won a full scholarship to study advanced robotics at MIT. Top of his class, he had a bright future ahead of him once he'd graduated, the pick of any robotics company in America. He had no spouse or girlfriend to tie him down, since he'd put work ahead of everything else, including his social life.

Since he'd always liked Metropolis, Sam decided that LexCorp was the way to go. WayneTech probably would have paid more, but he wasn't so keen on Gotham. Besides, maybe in Metropolis he'd get the chance to meet Superwoman. Maybe it would be a nice change for the super-heroine – worrying about a robotics engineer rather than that reporter she always seemed to be chasing. So he settled into his new job.

He liked it – it gave him plenty of new and challenging projects to work on, and within three years he had become a leader in the field of nano-technology, renowned all over the country by colleagues and competitors alike.

So he had recognition as the genius that he – naturally – was. However, despite his hard work, he still didn't have the money to retire before he was forty.

His opportunity to do that came three years and two months after he joined LexCorp — when he was called into the office of the boss-woman herself. After telling her secretary to hold all calls, and then set up some kind of anti-bugging device, Lex Luthor steepled her hands and regarded a confused Doctor Norton.

She then proceeded to offer him fifty million dollars as a one-off payment if he carried out a little bit of industrial espionage.

Sam Norton was an intelligent man – but intelligence did not mean wisdom. He agreed, and got a job at Wayne Enterprises within a month.

He deliberately chose not to think about why Luthor wanted to modifications made to those very specific seven Justice League com-links. He'd worked on the nanites, he knew what they were programmed to do. He knew that whatever Lex Luthor's reasons for wanting to gain such a foothold, they couldn't be beneficial to the world.

He also knew that for fifty million dollars, he didn't have to worry about it. He did as ordered, went back to Ms. Luthor and collected his fee as promised, then left the country.

Leaving the country, it transpired, was not enough for the World's Greatest Detective to lose his trail. This he realised as he stared at the black bat symbol of the broad chest of the man in front of him. Quite honestly Sam's first reaction was to turn and run.

He managed the turning part.

The running? Not so much.

He was stopped by Bat_woman _kicking his legs out from under him. Dazed, he lay on the floor, gasping for breath. That is, until he was hauled to his feet and slammed against the wall.

"You reengineered the com-links for the Founders," Batwoman growled. "Why?"

It didn't even occur to Sam to lie, or to do anything except babble out the truth as quickly as possible. "Money," he said quickly. "Luthor paid me fifty million."

"Accomplices?"

"None, I did it alone. Luthor, she said that the fewer people knew about it the better."

"Do you have evidence you weren't acting alone?"

Sam nodded as fast as he was able. Though the amount of communication he exchanged with Luthor was limited once he'd left WayneTech, there were at least three incriminating emails that he'd saved on his laptop.

Batwoman pushed him roughly toward the computer. "Files, now," she snarled.

Sam nodded and accessed the heavily encrypted date. "Here," he said, downloading it into a removable memory stick. "That's all I have on Luthor."

The apparent Bat_man_ put a hand up in warning. "The detailed plans and diagrams of the nanites you put in the Justice League com-links too."

He gave it to them. He gave them everything. Once he was done, Batwoman grabbed his arm again. "Hey!" he exclaimed. "I cooperated!"

"Yeah," the woman agreed. "And?"

The last thing Samuel Norton saw of his shiny new mansion in Cancun – before spending a _long _time in jail – was a beeping batarang lodging in the keyboard of his laptop. Then the beeping stopped.

---

"Well?"

Bella nodded and took a sandwich from the tray Winifred had brought down to the Cave, biting into it hungrily before answering. "We have what we need. It'll be enough for the prosecution to convict Luthor, and her accomplice is now in the hands of Interpol."

"So next stop… Luthor?" Flash asked.

She nodded. "Can't do it now – she's not going to get out of that board meeting for another three hours. The information Norton gave us will prove that the other Founders were not acting independently – but we can't worry about them at the moment."

"We only have a little under two days before they reach Earth," Diana pointed out.

"Exactly," Bella agreed. "We need a plan."

"There are more of us," John said.

"We can't afford to get complacent," Shayera replied. "Even if there are more of us, Superwoman alone could be more than we could handle."

Bella moved over to Bruce's side. "When you get back to your world," she murmured, "you're going to have to move your store of kryptonite."

He frowned. "Why?"

"Because I'm about to tell Clark where we keep it," she said simply.

He raised an eyebrow, but nodded. "For Clara, I take it."

"It's the only thing that'll work." She stepped away from him. "Alright, without the Watchtower, they have two possible targets: the Metrotower and here."

"It's a good bet they'll head here," Damien said. "Aside from the fact that we managed to take them out last time – sort of – Bella was also careful to… provoke Clara, if not the others."

Clark raised an eyebrow. "Provoke? What does that mean?"

"It's not important," Bella took over, "but the fact is that they're coming here. That means we need a plan."

"You already have one I take it?" Diana assumed.

"Yes," Batwoman nodded. "We'll need to divide into teams in order to take them out individually. As a team they're too strong."

"So I have Clara," Superman put in.

"No," Batman said. "There's only one way to take a Kryptonian down, and you're vulnerable to it as well."

Bella nodded. "I need you and John to handle Kyra. Damien, Diana — My'ri'ah. Shayera, Wally – Sally." She looked at Bruce. "Batman and I will handle Superwoman. And Clark – I'd stay away from the back of the Cave when they get here if I were you."

He raised an eyebrow. "Just how much do you have?" Though he asked Bella, he glanced somewhat nervously at Bruce.

"A lot," they said in unison.

"Define 'a lot'," Shayera demanded, folding her arms.

Bella glanced at the others, who all looked back expectantly. Suppressing a sigh of impatience, Bella strode over to the back of the Cave, past the giant dinosaur. Bruce knew she was heading for the concealed retina-scanner that would open the vault. Pulling back her mask, Bella put an eye to a seemingly black space of wall.

A light blue laser swept over her eyes, and then there was a beeping nose, followed by a clunking noise and then nothing for the next five seconds. Everyone crept closer.

Finally, an entire walls section slid to one side, revealing – to everyone's disappointment, except Clark's – a huge safe door with a key pad in the middle. Bella typed in the number Bruce knew she would, and stepped back.

This time, Clark was moving backward before the door was open fully, an expression of pain on his face. Looking concerned, Diana moved to his side, finding herself supporting more and more of his weight as more kryptonite was revealed. Bella watched Superman collapsed impassively – not because she was pleased, or sadistic, but simply looking to see how much would be needed to bring Clara down. For the look on Superman's face, just getting her to the vault would be enough if they could.

No one else seemed to be all that worried about Clark; they were all leaning in to look inside the vault, a sickly green light illuminating their faces and letting out noises of shock and awe. It was coming from row upon row kryptonite artifacts. They ranged from a dozen cartridges of kryptonite bullets to a kryptonite-tipped spear that did not reside in Bruce's collection. He moved closer, frowning. Bella had at least four more items – that he could see – that he didn't.

Making a mental note to ask her where she'd found them, Bruce stepped back toward Clark and Diana, helping the still-ailing Superman into a chair.

He looked gratefully at his two best friends. "Thanks."

"How are you doing?" Diana asked.

Clark had one hand over his heart, so 'not well' would be Bruce's best guess. "I'll be better once that door's closed."

Bruce turned around and shot a sharp glance and Bella. She nodded, and together with her husband, shut the door of the safe. Immediately, Clark was breathing a little easier. "Let's not do that again."

"Agreed," Bella said, coming back over. "Why don't you go upstairs – it's a sunny evening," she added in a softer tone.

John came over, and between he and Diana, Clark was helped up the stairs to the manor. Bruce made his way over to Bella, who was now sat at the computer, typing. As he got to her, he held out an empty palm expectantly. After a few seconds, she put a USB flashdrive into his hand. "The locations of every piece of kryptonite I have," she said. "How, when and where I found them, in case I have pieces you don't."

"You do," he replied. "I saw at least four just at a glance. That spear, for instance."

"Aboriginal, from around 300 B.C. More ceremonial than anything, but it could still be used as a weapon."

"True. Now what?"

She put her mask back on. "Now we go pay a visit to Miss Luthor."

When they arrived at Luthor's penthouse, it didn't take long for Bella to break in, and all they had to do was wait.

They didn't have to wait long.

In the meantime, though, they explored the penthouse, looking around. Only one room was locked, and no lock-pick either of them had could open it. However, just as Bella was on the verge of losing her patience, the front door opened, and Luthor came in. The lights hadn't been turned on, so she still gave the stock-in-trade but still-satisfying gasp of shock when both Batwoman and Batman materialised out of the shadows.

Still, she recovered quickly, smirking at Bruce. "So it is true: you found yourself another League. Parallel world, I assume?"

Batwoman didn't answer. "We have the evidence of what you did, Luthor."

"Hmm," she said, sounding unconcerned. "Well then I suppose there's nothing left for me to do but come quietly."

"Not quite." Batwoman put her hand out. "Key."

Lex raised a finely shaped eyebrow. "To…?"

"The only locked room in here."

Luthor scratched absently at her neck. "And I should give it to you because…?"

"Because we'll take it from you by force if you don't," Bruce stated.

"You don't even know where it is," Luthor shot back.

Unfortunately to Luthor, her body language had just given her away. Bella moved, slamming the other woman against Bruce's chest, hard. Prepared, he grabbed both her arms, pinning them behind her back. Bella tore open the collar of Luthor's blouse, then ripped off the gold chain – from which hung a key – from around Luthor's neck.

Key in hand, she strode over to the soon-to-be unlocked door. "You can't do that!" Luthor, still pinned by Bruce, yelled.

He frowned – that note of desperation in her voice hadn't sounded like any version of Luthor he knew. That had sounded almost like an emotional reaction created from fear. As Bella unlocked the door, he pushed Luthor through after her.

If Batman's jaw could drop, it would have.

It wasn't a large room; about the size of his walk-in closet in the manor. But every wall was covered by photographs. Some were cutting from newspapers, some looked as though they'd been taken from the air, or with some kind of spy camera, if the grainy quality of the picture was anything to go by. And they were all of the same person. In the centre of the room, on a literal pedestal, was a copy of a photograph he'd seen not too long ago.

Of a happily smiling bride and groom.

Instead of Bella Wayne's radiant grin, though, her entire head had been digitally doctored to show one Alexandra Luthor, arm in arm with the Prince of Themyscira.

"Oh, you've _got_ to be kidding me," Bella scoffed after a moment of silence. "This isn't about the League at all, is it?"

Luthor tried, and failed, to look as though she had no idea what Batwoman was talking about. "Of course it is," she smirked.

"No it isn't. This is about Wonder Warrior, and about Wayne Enterprises."

Batman looked at her, seeing her balled fists and narrowed eyes. He debated with himself for a moment before deciding to do nothing. It was, after all, a mirror-image of his own posture. "It was meant to target him, wasn't it?" Bella demanded. "You thought you'd get the rest of the Founders into the bargain, but it was the prince you really wanted to target."

"Two birds with one stone," Batman realised.

"Three," Bella corrected. "You get the Founding members, you discredit Bella Wayne, and you bring Damien over to your side. That the way it was supposed to go, Lex?"

The silence said more than enough, but Bella carried on. "I'd ask if it was just the political and public relations advantages that you were after, but the photos say it all. Superwoman's not your obsession anymore, is she? Oh, you'd kill her if you got the chance, but Wonder Warrior is the most important person."

Lex's expression turned ugly, and she began to talk, taking a step closer to Batwoman with every sentence. "Fine, I wanted him. What straight woman wouldn't? Added to which, how could I fail to win the popular vote with Wonder Warrior on my arm? There, I said it. Happy now?" By this time, they were face to face – Bruce debated warning Luthor that that position was extremely dangerous for her, but decided against it.

Bella narrowed her eyes until they were white slits in her mask. "Very far from it."

The punch, when it came, was so hard that Bella's wrist sustained a mild sprain. It broke four bones in Luthor's face, as well as knocking out a few of her teeth. She dropped like a sack of potatoes, out cold. It would be several hours before she regained consciousness. Bella turned her over with the toe of her boot, neutral expression fixed back on. "Stay away from my husband, bitch."

It was an extremely corny line, Bruce thought, but under the circumstances, it fit quite well. "You done?" he asked.

"Just about."

"Good. Let's go."

_And they say _I'm _the one with issues,_ he thought wryly.

After handing Luthor over to the police, Bella drove back to the Cave like a madwoman. Bruce drove fast, but tearing through Gotham at 189 mph was a little extreme even for him. It wasn't hard to work out why – and his suspicions were confirmed when they got into the Cave. Before the engine was even off Bella was out of the car and heading up the stairs.

Bruce followed, having a good idea where she was going. Just about the same place he would be. Ahead of him, Bella stormed out of the clock and toward the drawing room, still in full Bat-regalia.

Damien and Diana were standing by the fireplace, chatting quietly. After the doors had been slammed open, everyone was looking at the two entering figures. Clark cocked a questioning eyebrow at Bruce, but his attention was on Bella. He was sure she was going to –

Yep, there she went.

Striding over to her husband, Bella grabbed him and yanked him down a few inches, smashing their lips together and kissing him hungrily. Damien's eyes went wide, but he didn't have time to really enjoy it, since she stopped, grabbed his hand and dragged him from the room. She was heading, apparently, somewhere more suitable for Bella to thoroughly mark her territory.

Silence reigned supreme for a few seconds, and Diana's eyes were wide when she moved closer toward him. "What, in the name of all Olympus, was that all about?" she whispered.

Bruce could think of only one thing to say to her. "You are _never _dating Lex Luthor."

Diana blinked.

---

**A/N: Review please!**


	19. Justice League vs Justice League

**A/N: Thank you for the reviews! And riverspirit, I'm still blushing, thanks! **

**Chapter Nineteen - Justice League vs Justice League**

"I don't understand," Diana said as she hefted the giant penny. "Why can't we simply take the fight elsewhere?"

"Because there would be no way of luring the Founders there," Bruce explained. "They're likely to come here anyway, and then possibly lay an ambush. This way, the ambush is ours."

She nodded, but opened her mouth to point out that they could simply attack first, but then she felt the pressure of his already intense gaze increase, and changed her mind, not pressing further. She was still blushing, after all. After everyone had gone to bed last night, she had paced in her room. If he came to her, then they'd be alright. It hadn't been a one-night-only experience. Well... last night had certainly been an once-in-a-lifetime experience alright.

He hadn't even waited a cautious ten minutes before coming to her, opening the door without a word and then shutting it loudly behind him. She opened her mouth to say something, but before she could, her tongue was already being occupied, dueling with his. Diana joined battle willingly, but when her back was pressed against the door and her nightdress hiked up around her hips, she realised this really was a battle. He was claiming her, each kiss a brand against her mouth, then her neck, her breast. When, a few moments later, they'd both collapsed, Diana first, onto the bed, she felt, in the most pleasant way, like she'd been taken.

Bruce lifted his head from her chest, kissed her again – more softly, but just as passionately. Diana smiled at him, and then Bruce found himself on his back, the woman he loved grinning down at him in a fashion reminiscent of a panther.

Neither of them had gotten any sleep last night, and yet there was a certain energy that came from watching the moon and the sunrise in the same night. Diana definitely felt invigorated. Until she met Bruce's eyes – then she just felt like she should be asking him if he wanted cream with that.

Still, in the dark recesses of her mind, a fear lurked that she didn't want to address. He'd made love to her with such total abandon, such _desperation_... Like they were coming to the end. Like everything wasn't going to be perfect.

Putting the penny down with a little less grace than she would have ordinarily done, Diana moved over to the next thing that needed moving. They were clearing the Cave of any unnecessary equipment that might get in the way or was too expensive to risk being destroyed in the fight that would be taking place within an hour or two.

She shoved the thoughts about where their relationship was headed away – she hated the waiting enough without thinking about Bruce right now. It wasn't in her to hide in wait while her enemies inched closer. Much less when her enemies would be her friends. She glanced over at Bella and Damien. As expected, Batwoman was giving nothing away, but Damien caught her eye, his mouth set in an unhappy line.

She tried to offer a reassuring smile, but didn't feel like she'd really achieved it. Hera only knew what must be going through his mind right now – if she'd been waiting to fight her best friend...

Clark put the giant dinosaur down next to her her, noting her pensive expression. "Are you alright, Diana?"

She nodded, paused, then shook her head. "No."

He glanced over to where Bella was rigging Kryptonite lamps up. They were part of the trap for Clara – big, and obvious, and far too easy to stop, but they were a decoy. However, in case the decoy worked, it was prudent to have them functional. As they watched, she flicked them on, and then almost immediately off again. Still, the flash of green light was enough to make Clark grimace.

"I know what you mean," he said.

She shook her head. "That's not what I mean. I mean... the waiting. I don't know how to wait."

He put a hand on her shoulder. "Won't be long now."

She nodded finally. The other Founders would be here in a matter of hours. They both looked over at John when he shouted a question across the Cave to Bella. Or started to.

"So how exactly –"

She pointed without looking up from the computer she was now working at. "Over there."

He nodded, and walked over in the indicated direction, hefting a flamethrower a few seconds later. He looked incredulously at Bella. "You have a flamethrower?"

"Obviously."

He looked at Bruce. "Do _you _have a flamethrower?"

"Isn't that an irrelevant question?" Shayera asked.

Diana frowned at her somewhat dull voice. She knew what the problem was, but wasn't sure if she should say anything to her friend. As she watched, though, John put the weapon down and walked over to Shayera, putting a tender hand on her shoulder. He said nothing, but Shayera seemed to take comfort from him anyway, since she put her hand on top of John's.

Diana turned away with a smile. She knew why Shayera was less than enthusiastic about the upcoming fight, but it seemed that being here had been a tonic for their relationship, as well as her and Bruce's.

Once they were done clearing the Batcave, they went upstairs to grab something to eat, quickly. In the dining room, Bella made sure everyone knew which one of the Founders they were taking down.

Clara, obviously, was the biggest problem, but Bella and Bruce had her covered. They hadn't even told anyone else because of the chance that My'ri'ah might be able to read it from their minds, and if everyone was thinking the same thing, it would be too easy. Diana didn't feel reassured much by that, but if she did know, then she would only be imagining something unpleasant happening to Clark, which didn't appeal.

She herself would be dealing with Green Lantern. With the long journey she'd had to make across the galaxy, it was unlikely that Kyra would be at full-strength. She had a rough idea of what she was planning, but the lack of specific tactics didn't worry her. That was how she preferred to operate anyway – improvisation, thinking on her feet.

Shayera still didn't look happy about the prospect of once more fighting Hro Talek, but since it had been she who suggested it, she wasn't complaining either. Clark and Wally would take down female Flash. Potentially the rogue Founder who would present the biggest challenge would be My'ri'ah, but Damien and John between them were confident that they could handle her – hence the flamethrower. It was going to be messy, and horrible listening to the screams of pain, but it couldn't be helped. It was the only way to stop a Martian.

Wally was his usual confident self about taking his mirror-image down – his face fell a little when he was told that Clark would be helping him out as well.

His jokes and good humour weren't having their normal effect, however. They were all nervous; palpably so. Diana could smell it in the air.

---

After they'd eaten, and the others had gone down the the Cave, Bella paused for a moment in her study, looking out over the grounds. It must be the hormones – she knew this was necessary, but she didn't _want _to do it. Before that wouldn't have mattered, and certainly wouldn't have stopped her, but now it was causing her serious hesitation.

Damien put his hand on her shoulder. "Bella?"

She sighed. "Damien... tell me you've thought of another way."

He turned her around. "No. I'm sorry."

"But... Damn it!" she snapped, slamming her fist into the window. The pane cracked, a spider's web splintering from the impact of her fist.

Damien took her fingers, kissed them. "That's not going to help, Bella."

"No," she acknowledged. "But I'd give... almost anything not to."

"She'll get over it, Bella."

She looked up, a frown on her face and sadness in her eyes. "That's the first lie you've ever told." She walked away from him. "God, Damien, you're too pure for this place. You..." She squeezed her eyes shut. "You never should have left Themyscira."

He moved to her. "We've had this conversation before. I'm with you – and I'm never leaving you, not for Themyscira or anything else. Better or worse, remember?" he asked, lifting her chin.

She shook her head. "But you've never seen me at my worst. You're the strongest man on Earth, Damien, and you could never be cruel. I can be cruel, do you understand me? To stop Clara, I have to be. I'm going to be."

"Bella, don't talk as though you're the Joker, for Zeus's sake –"

"I may as well be right now!" she veritably shouted. "I'm about to break the heart and spirit of my best friend, in the most callous way possible, and there is _nothing –_"

He grabbed her upper arms. "No, Bella. Stop this right now. Whatever you're about to do, you don't want to do it. You're going to do it, but because it's the right thing to do. That still makes you the best woman I know, and completely different from the Joker."

She ran a hand distractedly through her dark hair. Taking a deep breath, she leaned upward to kiss him. When she moved back, it was to put her mask on. It became easier then. Batwoman didn't hesitate. She was going to stop Superwoman, by whatever means necessary.

Once they were all down in the Cave, she faced everyone, a strange-looking gun held in her hand. "We've only got one of these, so for God's sake, no one lose it or break it." She threw it to Damien. "You know what you have to do?"

He nodded, but didn't look happy about it. "Shoot My'ri'ah in the head."

She nodded. The gun was actually an electro-magnetic pulse emitter - once they had the rogue Founders subdued, they could then release an EMP through their skulls; in theory it should cut out the electrical field binding the nanites together in their brains. Without being able to communicate with one another, they should stop working, and revert to being harmless specks of metal. It would probably knock them out for a few moments while normal brain patterns were re-established.

With that, everyone took their agreed positions. Within about thirty seconds, everyone but Bella had melted into the gloom. She checked where the Founders were. "They're almost here."

Taking a deep breath, she strode over the Kryptonite lamps she'd rigged earlier, and put her hand to her com-link. When she spoke, it was with callous amusement. "So, have fun in the back-end of beyond, did you, Girl Scout?"

It wasn't Clara's voice the answered her – that voice belonged to a Justice Lord. "_You're going to pay, traitor._"

"Well I've been called many things – traitor's a new one. Of course I have one for you – imbecile. Tell me, what's it like to know you have nothing but brute strength? To know I have everything you don't."

What sounded like a harsh laugh came over the com-link. "_Not going to work –_"

"But it's not that that gets to you, is it, Clara?" Bella continued with a vicious smirk in her voice. "It's knowing that _everything _you have, I've already had, used, and gotten bored of. When you and Louis make love, does he bite his lip – or does he let go and scream out my name like you know he wants to?" She chuckled. "Never wondered why he closes his eyes? It's not because of the pleasure, Clara – it's because he can't bear not seeing _my _face above him."

Through the link, Clara was silent, but she still heard Kyra's voice filter through brokenly. "–_ attack together – don't – thing stupid –_"

Then it was working. She carried on. "He'll never come near you again, even if he does wake up."

"_What the hell are you talking about_?"

Bella laughed in the most unpleasant of ways. "Oh, don't remember putting him into a coma? You really went to town – brain hemorrhage, broken bones, pulped internal organs, the whole deal. Because of _your _stupidity, you've as good as killed him. You let _Lexie Luthor_ wind you up like a little clockwork doll, a puppet on strings –"

"_Enough!_" Clara's enraged howl would have sent shivers down the spine of a lesser woman. Apparently not even brainwashing could destroy the fact that Clara Kent loved Louis Lane. In this case, the truth was very well likely to destroy her.

Bella's expression settled back into the grim visage of the Bat, and she took her hand away from her com-link. _Here she comes..._

As expected, within ten seconds Superwoman was crashing through the tunnel for the Batwing, her expression murderous. She'd obviously left the others, flying down there as fast as possible with the express intention of rending Batwoman limb from limb.

Bella, safely behind the Kryptonite lamps, didn't flinch. Clara didn't move, and only nodded at the lamps, sneering. "You really think I'm that stupid?"

Batwoman smirked. "Yeah, frankly. I just wasn't counting on it."

Suddenly Bruce swooped down from the shadows of the ceiling, kicking Clara in the back. They'd spent all of last night embedding tiny chips of Kryptonite into both their gloves and boots. Not enough for Clara to even pick up on, but enough so that they wouldn't break their bones when landing hits. By the time they drew away, it wouldn't have inhibited her strength in any noticeable way.

Superwoman stumbled a little, but turned around, her rage hot once more. She lashed out, and Bruce went flying across the Cave, grappling hook out to stop him crashing into the rock wall. Bella took his place in front of Clara, landing a couple of punches that did nothing, but she had to back-flip out of the way.

While Superwoman was kept busy, Bruce slipped away and quietly began opening the vault. They'd already opened the wall, so now only the vault door remained. Behind him, he could hear Bella continuing to taunt Clara, allowing the Kryptonian to 'drive' her toward the vault, but without allowing Superwoman to see what Bruce was doing.

When the vault was opened, though, she knew exactly. Sickly green light spilled out into the Cave, and Clara literally crumpled. They didn't have time to use the EMP now, so heart heavy, Bella grabbed her friend and shoved her head first into the vault, even with her conscience loudly protesting. As long as she didn't touch anything, she should be alright – though in terrible pain – until they could get her out again. If everything went according to plan, then that time would be only a few minutes away.

No one relaxed once Bruce slammed the heavy door shut. They still had Sally, My'ri'ah, Hro, and Kyra to deal with. The only one with superspeed, Sally would probably be next. She would be using the library entrance to the Batcave, so that was where Wally was lying in wait. The strategy was simple – trip female Flash up, then tranquillise her with the elephant-strength sedative.

Well, that almost went according to plan. Sally came blurring down the steps, and Wally stuck his foot out at exactly the right moment – but hadn't taken the cap from the syringe. It was too late to take it off, since Sally was already up and speeding away. Flash was after her, but knew it would be a stalemate, and there was no chance of him catching her.

Floating by the ceiling, Clark shook his head as he watched the two scarlet blurs zoom around the Cave. Moving down a little bit, he used freeze breath, the moisture on the Cave floor instantly turning to ice. Sally skidded, Wally just after her. She hit the wall, and Flash hit her, winding her. He leaned back a bit. "Wow, I make one hot chick."

Superman landed and grabbed Sally. "The sedative, Flash."

"Oh, right!"

Before Sally could try and escape, Flash had the needle in her jugular and was depressing the plunger. She remained glaring for a moment, but then slumped forward in Clark's arms. He lifted into the air, and then headed down one of the crevasses in the Cave for safety. Even with the speed of her metabolism, the sedative should take several minutes to work through her body. Enough time to get the others under control again. Just before he sank out of sight, Clark cast a sympathetic glance at the vault. He could only imagine how awful Clara was feeling right now.

Lost in the shadows, Damien and John were waiting for My'ri'ah to emerge. Once she'd phased through the floor and then solidified, Damien didn't waste time, and flew upward, slamming into her, knocking the Martian into a wall. He had the EMP gun in his belt, and dived toward his friend again, but My'ri'ah had already phased out of the wall. John was waiting for her, flamethrower in hand.

The scream she let out as he turned it on full-blast was terrible, and echoed for far too long through the Cave. At a nod from Damien, Lantern turned it off. Before My'ri'ah had time to recover, Damien had the emitter at her head, and was squeezing the trigger. Her eyes flashed orange once, then she fell unconscious. There was no time to hide, only to get quickly out of the way, as the remaining Founders burst into the Cave together.

Diana and Shayera were ready for them.

Kyra flew down the Batwing tunnel first. Diana let her fly past before she followed, lasso out and flying. Her aim was perfect; Kyra's hands were bound together, and with a quick flick of her wrist, Diana sent the Green Lantern hurtling into the rock ceiling. When she went after her, though, the princess was slammed across the Cave by a wall of green light. She barely had time to raise her bracers when the wall turned into a blade sharp enough to slice all the way through her. She wasn't planning on letting that happen, but sparks still flew when light met metal. They were locked in a stalemate; Diana was holding Kyra off, but she wasn't winning the fight either.

Seeing that Diana was struggling, Bella fired up to the ceiling and pulled out her GL-defence; a ring that beamed out yellow light. When Kyra was enveloped, she lost her temper, kicking and struggling against the yellow.

"Hurry," Batwoman ground out, obviously concentrating hard. Damien threw Diana the EMP emitter, and she quickly flew over to Kyra, pulling the trigger as soon as Bella dropped the ring. GL dropped, and all eyes turned to Shayera. Diana had missed the start of the fight, engaged as she was in her own, but now it didn't look as though her friend was doing too well.

Hawkman had her pinned against the ceiling, and was hissing something at her. Diana flew closer, in time to here the end of what he was saying. "...never could bring yourself to kill me, Shayera."

"Nor could you," Shayera gasped out, speaking as clearly as she could with an Nth metal axe pressing into her gullet.

"That's what I thought too," he smirked. "I learned otherwise."

Suddenly, Diana realised that Shayera didn't actually need help, and dropped back slightly, though she remained within throwing distance to give Shayera the EMP. Shayera only smirked into the face of her former lover. "I didn't."

Every male in the Cave winced in sympathy when Shayera slammed her knee upward, her aim true. Diana threw the gun to her friend; Shayera slammed it against the side of Hro's skull, and pulled the trigger. He started to fall, and Diana caught him – Shayera didn't look like she was going to.

In the ensuing silence, everyone was breathing hard, not quite able to believe that everything had gone exactly as it was supposed to. They'd just taken down five of the most powerful beings in the world in a matter of minutes – and all, Diana realised, because of the plan that Bella and Bruce had devised. _Mental note: never piss Bruce off..._

Shayera held up the EMP emitter. "Who else is left?"

"Sally," Damien said, "and Clara."

While Shayera flew down to where Clark was still holding Sally, Bella was already moving to the vault, a kind of frantic energy in her limbs. She punched in the code, and waited only as long as it took Damien to collect the gun from Shayera before yanking the door open.

She pulled an unconscious Clara out, then slammed the door shut. Damien released the EMP into Clara's brain, but unlike the others, it didn't impede her return to consciousness. When she opened her eyes, it was with anger in her face. After a few seconds, though, that faded, and she seemed to recognise the concerned faces of her best friends.

"Kel?" Damien asked.

Clara nodded, then looked at Bella, her eyes wide as horrified realisation dawned. "Oh God, Bella, oh God, tell me I didn't really –"

Batwoman only nodded solemnly, and Superwoman collapsed into sobs. Damien moved forward and hugged her; Bella heard bones creak when Clara returned the embrace, but her husband showed no sign of the discomfort he must have been in.

Bella turned away, feeling sick for a reason other than her pregnancy. Around the Batcave, the rest of her teammates were waking up.

My'ri'ah met her eyes. _Did the rest of us hurt anyone? _

Bella shook her head. _No. Some building damage, but no one else..._

The Martian nodded, and made her way over. Once at Bella's side, she squeezed her shoulder, easily reading the guilt she wasn't showing. _You did what you had to. _

_I know. _

It should have been a glad reunion, a joyous homecoming. Instead they all stood and watched helplessly as, just like Bella had predicted, Clara's heart and spirit shattered.

---

**A/N: Depressing, I know, but at least it's not our Leaguers, right? Review please! **


	20. Merry Christmas

**A/N: Thank you for all the reviews! And thank you so much to my beta, Angel Queen. Here is the last chapter - which I wrote whilst watching ****_Love Actually _to help me get in the Christmassy mood. Though since it's cold and rainy here, that wasn't all that difficult. British summertime sucks. Anyway, I digress - enjoy!**

**Chapter Twenty - Merry Christmas**

"We're idiots, you know."

John looked to his left. His counterpart looked frankly back at him. "What?"

She nodded at the two Thanagarians, talking quietly at the other end of the room. They had things to say, they'd said. Those things, apparently, couldn't be said in the earshot of others. Neither Green Lantern was happy about that.

No one was surprised when Superwoman had disappeared. She'd stuck around to talk quietly with Bella and Damien for a few moments, but then flown off in the direction of Metropolis. The others were still around. My'ri'ah was speaking with Clark. The others had somehow simply become drawn to their opposites; Wally and Sally were flirting with each other, Shayera and Hro had started with awkward glances before Shayera bit the bullet and struck up the discussion they were currently engaged in. With Bruce and Bella assembling the portal that would take them home, that left John to talk to Kyra. Both of them ended up watching the two Thanagarians.

The doors opened, and Bella came through them, cowl off and nodding to them. "It's almost finished. Tomorrow you should be able to go home."

Leaving Wally's side for a moment, Sally ran over to her, and hugged her tightly. "I didn't say thanks."

Bella stood still. "Flash."

"Aw go on, Bats, you can say it. You missed me."

Then the unthinkable happened. Batwoman hugged back. "Yes, I missed you, Flash."

Sally leaned back with total incredulousness on her face. "I hope to God someone was recording –" She cut off, shock replacing delight. "Bella, are you – Are you _crying_?"

"Don't be –" _sniff _"– ridiculous," she snapped, turning away.

Of course, she wasn't fast enough. Sally zipped around to her other side. "You are _so _crying!"

Bella wiped her face and muttered something about 'fucking hormones'. Everyone else tried very valiantly not to burst out laughing – and then failed. Bella snarled several curses at them in a language that only the two Amazons in the room recognised, then stalked out.

Silence fell between the two former Marines for a moment. Still, it seemed that Kyra wasn't done with him yet.

"We're idiots," she repeated.

"Speak for yourself," he replied shortly.

"Oh, so you and Shayera are still together then?"

"No."

"Then you're as much of an idiot as I am." She sighed. "I'm tired, John. You must be too. Aren't you?" she asked.

He looked down. "Tired of not deciding, you mean?"

"Exactly." She shook her head. "I want Hro, and I want our daughter more than I care about destiny anymore. I thought I was lonely, but even with Marco it wasn't _right_. Hro – he fits. I can't imagine Shayera is any different for you."

"No," he agreed hoarsely. "She isn't."

Kyra nodded firmly. "She's it?"

His eyes found Shayera's as she glanced back. "She's it."

**

* * *

**

Bruce was watching her sleep. Though Diana didn't open her eyes, she knew he was from the way her skin was tingling. He was also brooding; his breathing told her that much. It wasn't as steady and deep as hers; it kept getting more frequent, was even erratic in places, as though he were contemplating something unpleasant.

Something that was going to hurt him.

_Please, Hera, no,_ she thought, feeling tears gather beneath her closed lids. _Not when I've found him. Not now. Please not now. _Uttering a silent prayer to the goddess of love, she pleaded with Aphrodite to help Bruce to see that this, what they now had, was far too precious to throw away, no matter what he believed. They belonged to each other, their entwined at soul-level. He had to feel that, deep in his bones he had to feel that. _Please, Aphrodite. Help him embrace this. He is simply unused to happiness. Please, help me to teach him. _

Like the night before, he'd come to her bed, and though their lovemaking had been completely different, it had held no less desperation. It was not frantic; instead he brought pleasure to every inch of her. It was as though he was memorising her body – but not for future reference. As if he were recording an image to bring bittersweet comfort in a lonely old age.

She shifted closer in her 'sleep', silently waiting for him to do something. When his arms closed around her, Diana opened her eyes and found him looking back at her with what could only be love in his gaze. She smiled, and his return smile looked effortless.

She kissed him softly. "Sleep."

He ran a hand through her hair, letting the strands move gently through his fingers. "I feel like... sleep is just wasting time. Time that could be spent with you."

She turned his face to hers, gazed directly into his eyes. "Bruce. I'm not going anywhere."

_Are you?_ she added, though not out loud. Still, Diana somehow felt that he heard the unspoken thought nevertheless.

It escaped neither of them that his kiss on her forehead was not an answer.

* * *

"I can hear you breathing, Bella."

Batwoman melted from the shadows in the corner of Louis Lane's hospital room. Superwoman was sat on the edge of the bed, silent tears still streaming down her face and holding one of his hands gingerly in hers.

Both women were silent until the midnight bells rolled across Metropolis.

"It's Christmas Day," she whispered.

Bella nodded. "You'd be with him anyway."

"Not like this!" she said harshly.

"No." A pause. "You're starting to remember." It wasn't a question.

"Just... bits and pieces," Clara replied. "Images. He tried to... Oh God, he tried to _stop_ me."

"Yes. There's nothing you could have done, Clara. It sounds trite, but it is the truth. This wasn't your run-of-the-mill brainwashing, or hypnosis or something you could fight. Once those nanites were in your brain, it was already too late."

"…and you and Damien?" Superwoman asked, leaving it as half a question. She didn't need to finish it. _Why were the two of you spared when we weren't? _

"Luck, Clara," he friend answered. "That's all it was. Luck. Fate. Anything. If we hadn't been on our honeymoon, we would have all done it, all of us. Louis wouldn't be recovering, he'd be dead. So would Rachael, Tia, Ben, maybe even Winifred too. We would all be Justice Lords right now."

Clara took her head out of her hands. "Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

Bella's look was blank. "This is why I leave the pep talks to you."

"You know I can't..." Clara started. "Not after this, I can't..."

"No," Bella said simply. "I don't. You'll never stop, Clara. Not while there are people who depend on you. It's not who you are," she added softly, putting a hand on her friend's shoulder. "And it might hurt. It might take months. Still, you can't deny that it's going to happen."

Clara snorted. "Who says you're bad at pep talks?"

"Clara."

She only looked at the bed again. "He's healing. The broken bones, the brain injury - they're all mending."

"So he'll wake?"

"Eventually," she whispered. "But I'm not a neurologist, Bella. What if I'm wrong?"

"You're not."

"But what if –"

"Endless 'what-if' scenarios are not going to help. Stop it," Batwoman interrupted. "And if we're done with the woe-is-me crap, I can get on with what I came here for."

"Which was?"

"An offer of Christmas dinner. Two p.m. this afternoon, at the Manor. The others are going back before then, so it'll be just the seven of us. And also..."

"What?"

A touch of humour crept into her voice. "If you don't come, I've been told to inform you that Damien will come drag you there, kicking and screaming if he has to."

The corner of Clara's mouth curled up. "Well that sounds rather final."

"Mmm," Batwoman agreed, and then she stood up. "Gotham calls."

There was the quietest possible noise as she leapt from the window, but a few seconds later, Superwoman's hearing picked up the whispered, "Merry Christmas" clearly.

She reached out and touched her fiancé's cheek softly. "Merry Christmas."

* * *

It hadn't taken them long to assemble the portal that would take Batman and the others to their world; they already had the blueprints, after all, and with the nuclear-powered electrical generator in the Cave, the power supply wasn't a problem.

At eleven a.m. on Christmas Day, the portal was ready, and they were all saying goodbye to themselves. Bruce and Bella watched them, neither willing to be the first to admit any kind of emotional reaction to their parting. Instead they looked at Damien and Diana embracing, looking for all the world like twins.

"You're going to push her away," she said quietly. "Aren't you?"

He hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "I have to. Here… it's safe. This isn't my Gotham, it isn't our League. What we had here… has to stay here."

"Why?" she asked. "Damien and I make it work; you can do exactly the same. You could have this, Bruce. You can have a full heart again. Just accept Diana into it."

"It's not that simple, you of all people know that."

"You don't feel you deserve her," she said assuredly.

"I _don't_," he emphasised. "Diana's… she's…"

"Perfect?"

"_Yes_," he said fiercely. "And she deserves so much more than I can offer her. All I could do is drag her down. She doesn't belong in the shadows."

"You don't think I don't feel that way?" Bella asked. "You think I don't know that Damien's too good for me?"

"Then why are you with him?" he demanded.

"I think I know now why our lives are so different," she replied. "And it isn't because you don't love her. It's because you're absolutely right. You _don't _deserve Diana and I don't deserve Damien, but it isn't about what _we _deserve, what _we _could do to this. Whatever you might want, there's one thing you're totally ignoring. _They've chosen us. _At the end of the day, for whatever reason, _we _are what _they _want. And I understand that, I accept that. You don't."

"But –"

"No, Bruce," she cut him off. "It took me a long time to see it, but the reasons? The reasons why we couldn't have them – because we'd hurt them, because we have 'issues'." She shrugged. "They're selfish. They're all selfish. You might hurt Diana. Hell, you probably will. But while you're pushing her away you're definitely hurting her. We're supposed to be certified geniuses – geniuses who are deliberately hurting the people who love us."

"Genii," he muttered after a moment.

He looked up to see a soft smile on Bella's face. She nodded once. "Let her love you, Bruce."

He returned the nod, unexpectedly feeling a lump of emotion form in his throat. Bella moved toward him, wrapping her arms around his chest. They shared a brief embrace before she pulled away. "Goodbye," she said, kissing his cheek softly, "brother."

They divided then into their separate Leagues, both reluctant and relieved to see the other go. It had been different, having a sibling, Bruce reflected. But not long-term, he thought with a smirk. They were both too much lone-wolves for that.

With a nod of thanks and farewell, Batwoman activated the portal, and watched as one by one, the others entered the portal, and back to their own world. Home.

Seeing her watching the now-empty ring of the portal with a pensive expression, Damien walked to his wife's side.

"You okay?" he asked.

She nodded, and looked up at him with an unexpected smile. "Yeah. Let's call Rachael and invite she and Ben over a little earlier." She rested her hand on her abdomen for a moment. "It's time we tell them."

* * *

When Batman left the Watchtower immediately after they'd gotten back, Diana didn't take it personally. Or she tried not to; he'd been away from his city for several days now, and as much as he had faith in Nightwing and his abilities, it wasn't quite the same. He was just doing what he'd do normally – and if they were going to be together, then she had to understand that Gotham was an integral part of him. She would never ask for it to be different. Still, though, watching him leaving so soon was a little disheartening. She could have done with the opportunity to tell him that she was going to break up with King. Even if – as she was beginning to suspect – Bruce was going to want to leave the possibility of _them_ locked away in a parallel reality. Should that be the case, then she could not continue to lead King on. Even if Bruce was going to try to through up the barriers between them again, Diana's heart was engaged, and to pretend otherwise with King would be dishonorable and cruel.

She checked the time; it was noon. Noon on Christmas Day. She couldn't break up with King on Christmas Day, for Hera's sake. It might not be a festival she celebrated, but she understood its significance to most of the Western world. It wasn't fair. No, she would contact him today, but arrange a meeting for a couple of days' time. It wasn't a conversation she was looking forward to.

She was in for a surprise, however, when she checked her messages once she got out of the shower. She had two from Audrey, neither of them urgent, and one from King. Even over the voicemail he sounded harried and a little stressed.

"_Hey, Diana, it's King. Listen, I know you're on a mission, and this is probably a bad time, but could you call me whenever you get the chance? We need to talk. Thanks, bye._"

Diana frowned. Had he somehow discovered she and Bruce had…? No, that was ridiculous. She'd been in a parallel world, for Hera's sake. He couldn't know. Still, it was clear he wanted to discuss something with her. She frowned, and then picked up her cell-phone. Dialing King's number, she waited only a few seconds before he picked it up.

"_Agent Faraday._"

"King? It's Diana."

There was a slight pause, and when he spoke again, it was with an odd edge to his voice that she couldn't quite place. "_Oh, hey, Diana. Um... how are you?_"

"Well, thank you," she replied. "You?"

"_Yeah, yeah, I'm good. Listen, are you busy tomorrow?_"

Well whatever he wanted to discuss, he wasn't wasting time, for which Diana was grateful. "No," she said. "Where would you like to meet?"

"_Usual coffee place?_"

"Alright. Eleven a.m.?"

"_Sounds great. I'll see you tomorrow, Diana._"

"Tomorrow," she echoed. "Merry Christmas, King."

There was another pause, and she thought he might have already hung up, but then he spoke again, in a quiet and slightly hoarse voice. "_Merry Christmas._"

She knew the rest of her friends would have gone home already; it was Christmas, after all, and they'd want to be with their families. Besides, she had her own Christmas tradition to attend to; seeing who was on monitor duty. Last year it had been Flash, and she'd offered to relieve him so that he could go home.

That gesture, ultimately, had earned her iced mochas whenever she wanted them until September, she remembered with a smile as she walked through the empty Watchtower. Today, though, she found J'onn already in there. She greeted him with a grin; she'd missed him in the few days they were away. Without J'onn, the Founders just weren't complete. Besides, there was so much she had to tell him.

After hugging him, she backed off with a question on her lips. "I thought you'd be home with Xuin?"

"She is a strict Buddhist," he explained, "so we do not celebrate Christmas. As long as I do not have monitor duty on February fourteenth I was happy to relieve Black Canary."

Diana raised an eyebrow. "February fourteenth?"

"Chinese New Year," he said. "2010 will be the Year of the Tiger."

"Oh, I see."

J'onn offered her a seat and settled back into his with a smile. "Speak, Diana. Your thoughts are practically screaming at me."

She blushed slightly. "Sorry, J'onn, but a lot happened."

"A lot personal to you," he surmised.

She nodded. "I think... Bruce and I finally moved forward."

J'onn nodded, but stayed silent, waiting for her to continue, for which she was grateful. Much though she loved Kal, he knew Bruce as well as he knew her, whereas she knew she was probably J'onn's closest friend in the League. Right now she needed to talk about her thoughts and her feelings, discuss her own speculations about where the relationship might go next without bringing in Bruce's next move. J'onn was an excellent listener, and was more than willing to let her talk even if her words led them only in circles.

It was past dinnertime by the time she got it all out, and took a deep breath before finishing. "I don't want to build my hopes up too high, J'onn, but... I have to face the fact that I'm not over him. Even if he..."

His green hand settled on hers, and he squeezed her fingers gently. "I don't often venture into Batman's mind, Diana. It's difficult for me to do so even when I wish to. That is, except when he's thinking of you. During those times, any telepath in the galaxy could hear his thoughts."

Diana knew her voice shouldn't sound so hopeful, or so excited at the prospect, when she said, "Really?" She also couldn't help noticing that she sounded like a teenager.

J'onn nodded, then turned away to deal with a minor-level alert that had just cropped up in Southeast Asia. "I'll be back in a moment, J'onn," she said, squeezing his shoulder.

She went to the commissary and collected a plate of Christmas Dinner for herself, as well as J'onn's customary Oreos. Once back in the monitor room, they chatted for the rest of the afternoon, then Diana managed to procure Wally's secret pack of playing cards from beneath the console he kept them under.

At about eleven thirty p.m., Captain Atom came to relieve J'onn, and Diana went back to her room intending to get some sleep. Tomorrow she'd see King, and then teleport to the Manor. If nothing else, she had the gifts for Alfred and Tim, and she needed to see Bruce.

She changed into her night-clothes and slipped into bed with a sigh. Twenty seconds later, the door slid open again. Well, there was only one person who'd open the door without knocking, so she switched the lamp on at the bedside. Somehow Batman didn't look at all threatening in the soft golden light that illuminated him. Or that could be simply because she was happy to see him.

"I'm not staying," he said abruptly. "Patrol."

She propped herself up on her elbow, smile beginning to fade. "Then why are you here, Bruce?"

He sat on the edge of the bed, drawing a small box out from beneath his cape. "Because there are still two and a half minutes of Christmas Day left."

He handed her the box, and she opened it to find a ruby pendent suspended on a fine gold chain winking at her. She smiled. "It's beautiful. Thank you, Bruce."

He picked it up, put it around her neck wishing he'd had the foresight to remove his gloves. Her skin against his hands, the weight of her hair... Fixing the clasp, he drew back.

She touched it, then smiled again at him, a mischievous edge to it. "But I don't have anything for you."

He smirked, leaned in. "I'm sure you can think of something."

She kissed him, beginning softly, but like always, it quickly built in passion until his cowl was off, and her fingers tangling in his hair, their bodies pressing closer until – He pulled back. Patrol. People got drunk at Christmas, drunk people started fights, and fights could go wrong. He needed to be out there just as much as ever. Diana still had her eyes closed, and he smiled.

"Merry Christmas, Princess," he whispered against her lips.

By the time Diana opened her eyes, he was already gone.

* * *

When she got to the café a few minutes early, King was already there. When she sat down, he didn't waste time.

"Diana, before you say anything, I – I need to say something first."

She stared at him, intrigued at hearing a man like King stammer. Diana only raised an eyebrow and gestured for him to continue.

"Listen... you're... the most incredible woman in the world – how could you not be? – but... I haven't been totally honest with you."

"King-"

"Please, Diana, let me finish."

She nodded.

"As amazing a woman as you are, I think you might just be a little too perfect for me." He blew out a sigh and raked his fingers through his light-colored hair. "A few days ago, my ex came to D.C. We broke up about a month ago, but..." He looked back at Diana. "I'm sorry, Diana, but I'm still in love with her. And we decided to give it another go. I'm really sorry."

For another few seconds, Diana could only sit in stunned silence, staring at King.

He swallowed nervously. "Diana?"

She blinked and shook her head. "Right. Um... that's... fine," she managed.

He raised his eyebrows. "That's fine?"

"Yeah... I mean..." She smiled. "I'm happy for you, King."

"Really?" he asked. "Diana... I screwed you over."

"No, you didn't. You can't deny what your heart truly wants. I hope you're very happy together."

Part of her wanted to leave, then, but she knew she couldn't. No matter what she said, King would continue to believe that he was the only one at fault here, and consequently feel guilty, unless she came clean.

"However, saying that..." she began. "I'm not blameless either. I was unfaithful to you, and like you... it was simply because I love him. I have no other defence, and I am sorry."

He chuckled softly. "Why were we together in the first place?"

She shrugged with a smile. "Loneliness, I suspect. I hope we can still be friends."

"You know what, Diana... I think we will be."

Before they parted, they'd made plans to have coffee later in the week. Diana hugged him as she left, and then flew into the sky feeling light, carefree, and looking forward to kissing Bruce senseless at the earliest opportunity.

When she arrived at the Manor, though, half an hour later, Alfred showed her into the study, and Bruce was waiting for her with a sombre expression on his face. He stood up.

"Princess... we need to talk."

* * *

**A/N: Review please! Epilogue will be up in a few days :)**


	21. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

There was a certain something about Christmas that just did not fade with age, Robin thought, bounding down the stairs and into the kitchen. Looking around, it was clear no one else was up yet – though this early on Christmas Day that wasn't all that surprising.

Deciding a spot of Christmas cheer was in order, Robin crossed to the kitchen cupboards and pulled out the ingredients necessary for hot chocolate; including, of course, the essential marshmallows.

Once the silver pot of hot chocolate was done, Robin was just pouring the beverage into mugs when the doors opened, and the mistress of Wayne Manor entered.

"Merry Christmas!"

She smiled wanly. "Merry Christmas."

"Sleep well?"

She grimaced. "Not really." A hand was placed on her abdomen. "Baby's active at night."

"Wonder where she gets that from," Robin said dryly.

The dark-haired woman laughed. It disappeared when a cup of hot chocolate was put in front of her. "Where's my coffee?"

"You can't start Christmas Day with _coffee_," the teenager said cheerfully. "Besides, didn't the doctors ban you from having any of that stuff?"

"Trust me – I need caffeine today," she groaned.

Robin grinned. "Just a little longer and you'll be able to have it again."

The doors opened again, and her dark-haired, blue-eyed husband came in. He smiled at Tim, then crossed to his wife, kissing her lovingly. "Good morning."

She smiled. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas."

He accepted a cup of hot chocolate and then settled on a seat next to his wife. "You didn't sleep well last night," he said. It wasn't a question.

"I slept fine," she soothed.

"You were still awake when I got back from patrol, Princess."

Diana grimaced slightly. "Alright, so I didn't sleep well the whole night. There were a lot of kidney shots."

Bruce sighed and ran his hand over the swell of their child. "Why're you doing this to your mom, huh?" he murmured.

Diana and Tim glanced at each other once before having to look away again. Much as she secretly loved hearing him talk to the baby, Diana had to admit it was funny.

Tim sipped on his hot chocolate. "So what time's Dick getting here?"

"Around noon, I think Barbara said," Diana replied.

Tim nodded, and then poured out another cup. Alfred had been given the morning off, with strict instructions to have a lie-in. "I'm going to go give this to Alfred," he said to his surrogate – well, parents now. He paused at the door. Seeing Bruce talk to the baby made him remember something. "Hey, did you guys think of a name yet?"

Diana was due in about a month – or slightly less – and so far their unborn daughter had the middle names of Martha and Penelope, but no first name.

Bruce and Diana shared a faint, conspiring smile, and then looked back at Tim.

"Bella."


End file.
